As an agency who’s helped grow the awareness and adoption of global eCommerce brands in the UK, and one who’s helped drive awareness for new and innovative software in the retail technology sector, we know what builds brands online. Both our founders have consulted with some of the biggest online retailers in the UK about their online profile in previous roles in the Search Marketing industry. They’ve infused everything we do at Hard Numbers with an appreciation of what drives success in the ultra-competitive world of online retail. We’ll bring that expertise to bear as your retail tech PR agency too.
Specialist retail tech expertise
We’ve helped build some of the biggest eCommerce platforms, and create new categories for disruptive market entrants in the retail tech sector.
Our client experience spans online retail, retail technology, marketplaces, payments, logistics, customer experience and fulfilment providers. We understand the challenges faced by ambitious direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses, retail technology vendors and established brands competing for visibility, customers and market share in crowded online markets. If you’re looking for an agency that knows how to grow brands online, you’ve found it. Which shows we’re pretty good at doing that for ourselves too.
There’s a reason our retail tech PR services are consistently sought out by those in the online retail sector. We help clients to win online by driving brand search, improving attribution, mitigating declining online social and search traffic through improved AI referrals, and, ultimately, show that retail tech PR can drive more than just coverage. It drives growth in crowded markets.
Finding the voices that REALLY influence your audience
The universe of influential voices on the topic of online retail is dizzying. Affiliate creators, influencer partnerships, expert journalists, brand ambassadors, content makers, earned media and so many more voices besides.
As a brand looking to improve its retail tech PR, we can help you to navigate this. Hard Numbers takes a more measurable and transparent approach than most retail technology PR agencies. Every interaction we have with journalists, analysts, influencers and content creators on your behalf is tracked through our HubSpot CRM platform, giving us a detailed understanding of where the strongest relationships and opportunities exist across tech, retail and digital commerce media.
We capture data to help make informed decisions about the scale, reach, authenticity and authority of the different outlets you can collaborate with to share your message with your target audiences.
Using live Data Studio dashboards, we can provide you with full visibility into campaign progress - from initial outreach and journalist or influencer engagement through to interviews, coverage and wider campaign outcomes. Within our reporting you’ll directly be able to see how we turn media traction into traffic on your site, and how we turn brand awareness into big increases in on-site activity.
What issues can retail tech PR help?
The range of issues facing eCommerce platforms, and the retail technology businesses that address them, are extensive. Customer acquisition costs (CAC) have never been greater, and it's never been harder to “win” online. We can help our clients who are battling with rising pay per click (PPC) costs, reduced online visibility and declining organic and traditional search traffic by driving greater brand search, organic visibility and share of search from Generative AI platforms.
Consumers are increasingly interested in ethical transparency around sourcing, packaging, supply chains and environmental impact. We can help brands to communicate their sustainable and ethical commerce credentials in a way that’s truthful and impactful, rather than performative and misleading.
In a world where differentiation is hard to come by, we create campaigns and content that enable our clients to stand out from the eCommerce crowd.
We do more than drive column inches, however – we drive branded search growth, AI visibility, referral traffic, conversion and retailer confidence, as well as investor enthusiasm.
What makes Hard Numbers different from other retail tech PR agencies?
There are several reasons why Hard Numbers is different from other retail tech PR agencies:
Deep understanding of what drives visibility online
Both our founders have previously worked in the Search Marketing industry, having consulted with some of the largest retail brands in the UK about their visibility online. As search traffic has migrated from Google search to AI search platforms, we’ve stayed ahead of the pack – we’ve published two Generative Engine Optimisation research reports and a 3,000-word primer on how to be found by Generative AI platforms.
If you’re looking for a PR agency that can maximise the search impact of their work for your retail tech business, you’ve found the right agency.
Deep eCommerce and retail tech sector experience
eCommerce and retail technology is a fast-moving and highly competitive market that rewards specialist knowledge and experience.
Our team has worked with ambitious online retailers, retail technology providers and digital commerce brands across a wide range of growth stages. From category creation and thought leadership through to product launches and reputation building, we understand how to position Retail Tech businesses effectively and help them stand out in crowded markets. We know what drives performance in modern marketing, and we know how to make sure you’re a success online.
Making the most of tight margins
We know the online retail sector is ruthlessly competitive, and margins are tighter than ever. We’ve won awards for our low-budget PR campaigns at the CIPR and AMEC awards, and we’ve written guides for professional communicators on how to make PR campaigns deliver on a tight budget.
