Category: Europe

Categories
Data Driven Channels Europe In the News UK

Christmas is coming – are you ready for the Black Friday sales bonanza? You’d better be, marketers are warned!

Retail black friday,

You might still be lolling in your summer shorts, but one company is calling you to action stations, with Black Friday just three months away. What’s more, Salmon claims it will be not just Black Friday, but a Black Fiveday week, predicting that a record breaking £5 billion spent online from Thursday November 24 through to Cyber Monday.

It says retailers need to be in the midst of their preparations now for that shopping phenomenon – and in order to help them get ready, global digital commerce consultancy Salmon has devised a checklist to ensure they are thinking about their peak trading operations and making the vital requirements.

Black Friday hit the £1billion mark last year in online sales, as Salmon had predicted, and this year Salmon is anticipating that it will be even bigger.Computer keyboard with Christmas keys, christmas trading, Black Friday

Salmon’s head of managed services, John Beechen, ‎has advice for businesses on what to achieve in order to be truly ready. Beechen said: “Retailers should think about peak trading as a crisis that they know will happen in advance. Preparation is vital and retailers need to consider their business and operational plans for the period.”

His five critical objectives include:

  1. Rigorous testing. Retailers should be undertaking performance tests of their systems up to peak loads in order to see where their break points are. Simulating a major incident to understand how watertight their contingency plan is will enable retailers to understand how they will cope with a ‘dam burst’ scenario if faced with an unexpected influx of traffic on the day. This will benefit retailers as it is better for them to know where a system will break and allow them to prepare for it.
  1. Stagger your marketing activities. Peak traffic on Black Friday is inevitable, but with it being expected to become a Black Fiveday week, retailers will benefit from feeding customer deals gradually throughout the week, which will keep consumers shopping during the peak and on Cyber Monday, while reducing strain on infrastructure and fulfilment teams.
  1. Prepare the business. It is of vital importance that the whole business is aligned in the lead up to and on Black Friday, establishing constant communication between technical operations and the wider business. Now is the time to ensure every department is au fait with the plan for peak trading on November 25 – not just in silo but across the entire business. In particular, being aware of all marketing campaigns and promotions in advance will enable teams to map out when they expect to see the biggest surges of traffic so they can prepare accordingly. Being aligned will ensure all online trading and operations teams can anticipate surges and be ready.
  1. Have a contingency plan. Regardless of how prepared retailers might be, it is difficult to make Black Friday 100% fail-proof. With fewer than 100 days to go, even if retailers are completely unprepared it’s not too late to put some basic functionality in place. For example, adding a queuing system whereby customers are placed in a waiting line to access the website will help to control the surge and reduce the chances of the site crashing. This is also a good contingency plan for retailers on the day, should they suffer unexpected problems – implementing a queuing system can relieve strain on back-end operations while the problem is fixed. Identify the risks that may arise on Black Friday and create an established list of solutions so action can be taken by the corresponding department from IT and ecommerce to marketing and PR.
  1. Ensure your staffing plans are set. Retailers need to ensure their staffing plans and shifts are set, with everyone involved in peak operations (including their vendors and suppliers) being aware of their role and responsibility during the period. Shifts should be in place for both Black Friday and the weekend, and contact details published.

Beechen added: “Retailers must ensure that they have laid out clear contingency plans for their teams to respond to issues during the week. The Black Friday week is an excellent opportunity for retailers to win new customers and grow their customer following and ultimately increase sales.

“The retailers who were as prepared as possible, from front-end to back-end, have been the ones to see success.”

Salmon has created ‘The Black Friday and Peak Trading Ecommerce Operations Playbook’, a guide based on Salmon’s experience in supporting the peak operations of several leading UK retailers.

Categories
Data Management Europe In the News Strategy and Management UK

Royal Mail tackles home mover data decay

data strategies, data decay

The Guide to Mover Marketing will also identify those who may be looking for move-related and home improvement products and services.

It has been developed in response to research from Royal Mail Data Services, which surveyed nearly 200 leading UK marketers to discover the key business challenges surrounding the use of customer data for marketing purposes.

The research revealed that 45% of marketers say recruiting new customers is their biggest challenge. The remaining 55% struggle with re-activation, upselling, retention and cross-selling to existing customers.

Further research suggests that 65% of consumers switch suppliers or engage with new brands during the home-move period as they track down the best deals.

Data decay – trends and characteristics

Home-mover marketing presents proven opportunities for brands, particularly in the utilities, telecoms, finance, insurance, banking, DIY, retail and home improvement sectors, to increase their customer retention, acquisition and re-activation rates, the firm claims.

The guide outlines the trends and characteristics of the UK home-mover market. It also offers strategies for data-driven B2C marketers to improve their customer acquisition, retention and engagement strategies by segmenting and targeting home movers with relevant, useful marketing communications.

It also explains how businesses can quantify the value of the home-mover market through analysis of customer purchasing behaviours before, during and after their moves.

Royal Mail Data Services managing director Jim Conning said: “The combination of price-conscious consumers, the breadth of choice to be found online, and fierce competition is making it more challenging and costly for B2C marketers to improve the performance of their marketing while boosting revenues. The key to success lies in a marketer’s ability to deliver ‘right-time’, contextual marketing that anticipates what customers need before they have to ask.”

The guide draws on Royal Mail Data Services’ experience of working with many of the UK’s leading brands to help them reshape their approaches to “right-time”, contextual marketing through the use of home-mover data alongside specialist data analysis and marketing services.

Conning added: “To be successful at ‘right-time’ marketing, marketers need access to timely customer information. This data must be accurate, permission based, and sourced via a first party. But it’s not enough to just provide great-quality data.

“Businesses also need insight into home moves period to help them understand when consumers are most likely to buy a company’s products or services or, indeed, to switch to the competition. And that’s where our specialist knowledge and experience come in. Our guide offers marketers a step-by-step approach to adopting effective marketing strategies and techniques to target home movers.”

The move follows the launch of eBay Advertising’s Home Mover ‘Advanced Targeting’ scheme, which cross references insights from eBay’s 19 million monthly users with Land Registry data to predict movers months before they actually settle into their new abode.

Categories
Data Management Europe In the News Strategy and Management UK

Failing to manage returned mail costs £145m a year, says study

Mail box UK, returned mail

A new study by The Software Bureau reveals that 60 per cent of marketers do not practice reverse marketing; the management of returned direct mail, which costs firms £4.02 per piece of returned mail.

Approximately 90 million pieces of direct mail (2.5 per cent) are returned to sender each year. Forty per cent of these or 36 million are returned due to the recipient’s wish to be removed from the marketing database, equating to a loss of potential revenue of £116 million and £29 million in wasted production costs.

Reverse marketing enables organisations to compile in-house do not mail lists that can be screened against future campaigns reducing the volume of mistargeted mailings, saving money and improving the reputation of the organisation among customers.

The study revealed B2B organisations to be the worst culprits followed by retailers, credit card providers, retailers, pension providers and charities. Conversely, local government was found to be the most responsible.

Martin Rides, managing director of The Software Bureau, said: “The fact that every piece of returned mail costs businesses £4 is incredible – this soon adds up, amounting to thousands per year.

“Reverse marketing is a key component to reducing the volume of mistargeted direct mail. It is shocking that only four in ten organisations manage their returns and, more importantly, learn from them.

“Our new initiative, Lean DM, helps organisations to identify the areas which produce the most wastage in their direct mail activity and minimise it. With the advent of GDPR and increased scrutiny from the media and legislative bodies, it is crucial that organisations focus on data hygiene.”

The study was carried out by ‘mystery shopping’ last month.

Returned mail statistics:

£4.02 = 3.6 billion pieces of DM sent annually (OFCOM) x 2.5 per cent returned (Royal Mail) x 40 per cent of returns due to opt outs (DMA) = 90 million returns x lost ROI (£3.22 Royal Mail) and average cost of a mail pack (£0.80).

Categories
Europe In the News Legal & Compliance Strategy and Management UK

Data breach has affected nearly a quarter of UK consumers

data breach

In a world where an ever-increasing number of transactions are carried out online – requiring consumers to share personal information – the threat of a data breach is never far away. In the last month alone, Netflix and Facebook have both been hacked and in June 2016, a breach at South Yorkshire Police Force’s website potentially put confidential data at risk.

According to new YouGov research commissioned by credit information provider, Equifax (YouGov online survey. Total sample size was 2,037 adults. Fieldwork undertaken between June 17-20 2016. Figures from YouGov Plc), nearly a quarter (23%) of UK consumers say that a company holding their personal information has experienced a data breach, with those in the South East being the most affected at 30% and residents in the North East being the least affected at 19%. When it comes to the generations, the 25-34-year-olds seem the most affected at 31%; the figure falling to just 18% for the over-55s.

Financial compensation after data breach expected

It seems that with the increased risk of a data breach, consumers’ expectations of how they are informed and assisted by any company holding their data are unsurprisingly high. Almost three-quarters (73%) of UK adults surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Equifax think companies should tell them that they have experienced a data breach at some point, with 63% expecting to be told within a few hours of the breach being discovered by the company. 61% would expect financial compensation if their personal data was misused as a result of the breach and 57% would expect to have a free monitoring service set up to alert them if their financial information is misused.

Not only do consumers expect fast action and compensation if their data is breached, companies also need to adhere to the Data Protection Act enforced by the ICO. Companies may receive a fine if they suffer a breach of customer data, and also may face legal action. Future regulation may also require organisations to notify all individuals if they suffer a breach.data breach equifax image1

Lisa Hardstaff, credit information expert at Equifax, explained: “A data breach isn’t just a huge logistical challenge for any organisation. It also can do serious damage to brand reputation, as our recent research revealed. 61% of consumers said they would be unlikely to purchase goods or services from a company if it had experienced a data breach in the past.

“It’s clear that consumers quite rightly expect companies to look after their data. But individuals have a part to play, too, in keeping their own details safe. It’s worth remembering that social media accounts hold a lot of personal information, giving fraudsters more than enough data to help them steal someone’s identity and rack up debt in their name. However, our latest research revealed that consumers are most worried about their bank account and credit card details being stolen (84%), while only 7% are worried about hackers gaining access to social media account login details, in the event of a breach.

“Fraudsters are continually evolving their methods and, while organisations tracking and stopping them do have high success rates, the financial incentive for fraudsters to invent new techniques means they stay one step ahead of those out to stop them. Consumer vigilance is therefore key and while the onus is on a business to take action to protect the personal information that has been hacked, there are steps consumers can take, too, including changing passwords.”

Categories
Data Driven Channels Europe Insight UK

The art of digital transformation

digital transformation customer experience

Bill Payne discusses how crucial consistency is for customers, how to transform your organisation to become digitally enabled and how to overcome the challenges of this digital transformation. 

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Best practice Data Innovation Europe UK

Advice for start-up owners from London Tech Week

start-up

London Tech week: Video shorts from four start-up founders and managers Leaders from four amazing start-up firms joined me on our London Tech Week panel, all at different stages of development, all with different challenges, but all with a great perspective on the challenges they have faced and indeed are facing today. We asked them: “What…

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Europe In the News Legal & Compliance Strategy and Management UK

Charities face huge fines for ignoring opt-out service

GDPR implementation , charities opt-out service

charity fundraisingCharities that ignore the Fundraising Preference Service would still be in breach of the law – and liable for fines of up to £500,000 – despite the fact that it is not a statutory requirement, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office has confirmed.

Speaking at a recent conference in London, the ICO senior policy officer Richard Marbrow said the FPS would have legal status because the regulator would view consumer sign-ups as a withdrawal of consent to receive marketing communications.

Marbrow said some professionals had suggested charities would be able to ignore the service because it was non-statutory, but the ICO could pursue them for breaching the consent requirements of the Data Protection Act. DPA breaches carry a maximum fine of £500,000.

Charities opt-out service: FPS criticised

Although former Information Commissioner Christopher Graham initially criticised the FPS for being confusing, the regulator now wants the service to apply to all marketing communications, bringing it under the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations. Breaches of PECR carry a maximum fine of £250,000.

One study estimated that up to 30 million people could sign up to the FPS.

The move came as Graham’s successor Elizabeth Denham (pictured) took up the role from July 18. Ms Denham said: “I am delighted to have taken up this position and am excited about the challenges ahead. I look forward to working with staff and stakeholders to promote openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.”Information Commissioner UK

Denham, who will serve a five-year term as Information Commissioner, has held senior positions in privacy regulation in Canada over the last 12 years. Since 2010, she has been the Commissioner at the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, Canada.

Categories
Europe In the News Legal & Compliance Strategy and Management UK

Call for industry to shape marketing law revolution

dm disciplines marketing law revolution

UK-based marketers are being urged to be proactive in helping to shape new marketing law on direct, data and digital activity – included in the Digital Economy Bill – which, it is claimed, could have far greater influence on the UK sector than even the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Parliament has already approved the first reading of the bill, a move which will lead to the Information Commissioner’s Office preparing a code of practice on direct marketing with a clear instruction that relevant parties from within the DM industry must be consulted.

In addition, Baroness Neville Rolfe, the Minister of State at the Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, has called for contributions in shaping the future of regulation by declaring that she is “very much in listening mode”.

The minister has already stated there can be no way of knowing whether or not GDPR is likely to apply to the UK until trade negotiations with the EU begin, although many experts expect the UK to adopt GDPR or at least its own version of the legislation.

But given that the Government has not yet decided its timetable to establish its bargaining position, everything is still up in the air.

Marketing law: atmosphere of uncertainty

Verso Group operations and compliance director Dene Walsh said: “What is certain is that with the Digital Economy Bill being sponsored by government itself, is written into the Queen’s Speech, and is likely to come into law far more quickly than the conclusion of trade talks relating to data regulation, with the additional possibility of the Information Commissioner deciding new direct marketing rules before negotiators have finished their job.

“In the immediate and medium term the only thing certain is uncertainty, and it is this atmosphere that presents an ideal opportunity for all parties to review all regulation to take into account the interests of both business and members of the public.”

Walsh maintains that the review should include all elements of commercial communication and data relating to members of the public, including the Telephone Preference Service. He added: “After 20 years, the TPS is showing increasing signs that it is past its sell-by date. Half its files are dead and it has far more registrations than there are active telephone numbers in the UK. More important, it is not effective in stopping increasing public concern about ‘nuisance’ calls. A more effective system needs to be considered.”

Walsh maintains that now is the time for an open review to create regulation for the next decade that protects the public, and lays down unambiguous rules that allow companies to operate within clearly defined parameters. “Incorporating all regulation into the review, including that of the TPS, MOJ and ASA provides a unique opportunity to establish rules that do not overlap and contradict each other. Clashes of rules currently put companies in an unfair situation in which they have to decide which rules to break based on which regulatory authority is likely to hand out the least severe punishment,” Walsh added.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create joined up rules that are understood and work for everyone, including members of the public. The alternative is to go on as we are muddling through with multiple sets of rules that overlap leaving nobody satisfied and always with the possibility of future short-term change.”

Categories
Business Analytics Case Studies Europe Strategy and Management UK

Start-up love starts with a KISS

start-up

Craig Hanna brings top tips for start-up businesses.

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Europe Insight UK

Viewers aren’t skipping TV ads, survey shows

They’re not out making the tea or fast-forwarding through them, after all – TV ads are being seen. The vast majority of television viewers are watching the TV ads. That’s the surprise finding of a survey by UK-based technology start-up company Yospace in conjunction with Censuswide, providing insight into behaviour surrounding live television and the power of personalised advertising….

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here