Brands rely heavily upon their network of independent, local retailers to drive high-consideration purchase decisions, yet many localized retailer websites lack the visual identity, product information, and local purchase information to drive leads and increase revenue.

PowerChord, a leading technology, and marketing company offering digital solutions for multi-location brands, today announces the results of its first Local Retailer Audit Report. The report aggregates the audits of 49 brands representing more than 1,000 independent retailer websites conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a given brand’s presence and information. The audits specifically looked at product listing details including promotions and rebates, brand cohesiveness, and backlinks, and results reflect the overall efficacy of branded retailer websites.

After auditing 1,333 localized retailer sites for best practices, PowerChord reported the following takeaways:

• Nearly 94 percent of retailers do not promote brand promotions and rebates on their websites
• 80 percent of retailers do not list the brand logo/company name on their homepage,
• Nearly 60 percent of retailers missing the brand information on the entire site
• 63 percent of retailers lack product content
• 55 percent of retailers have limited product information or details
• 8 percent of retailer sites send customers back to the brand site for product information, increasing bounce rates and lowering sales conversions

“These audits demonstrate how misinformation, online ineffectiveness, and/or brand non-compliance, on the part of the dealer, can have significant negative consequences. Ultimately, these shortcomings impact the buyer journey and stifle sales leads and purchases,” said Kevin Sabourin, Vice President of Sales at PowerChord. “In working  with thousands of brands and their local retailers to address these common missteps  and improve the relationship, we’ve seen a profound impact on branding and sales by enabling scalable marketing initiatives.”