Category: Country Focus

UK students have named the brands they shop with most – Amazon, New Look, Superdrug and The Co-operative Food.

In the annual cardholder survey carried out by NUS extra – the discount and lifestyle card provider arm of the UK students union – 67% of students surveyed said that they had used Amazon in the last 12 months. New Look, the only fashion brand to feature in the top 10, was used by 45% of students, followed by Superdrug at 43% and The Co-operative Food at 41%.

The Co-operative Food, the only food retailer to currently offer a student discount, was also found to be the discount used most regularly by NUS extra cardholders, taking the top spot from New Look who was the most used discount in 2013/14 and 2012/13.

Alex Butcher, partnership and marketing manager for NUS extra, said: “This research gives brands and retailers a real insight into who students are shopping with. This isn’t just a stat about students’ favourite or more aspirational brand, these are the brands that our cardholders are using and spending money with, and they demonstrate a clear range of categories. It isn’t all high street fashion; online, beauty, groceries and eating out are all popular with our cardholders.”

Each year, more than ½ million undergraduates start higher learning. Commonly referred to as the ‘student pound’, they are a very valuable customer group for retailers and brands.

Andrew Mann, customer director at The Co-operative Food, said: “Undertaking this partnership with NUS extra and providing a 10 percent discount off our groceries to savvy students who want to save money, has given the Co-operative an opportunity to encourage students to shop conveniently and locally to their homes and place of study. With around 2,800 stores across the UK, they can use their discount wherever they live.”

Currently in 8th place in the top brands used by students, you might see rising star Pizza Express making its way up the rankings over the next 12 months due to their increasing engagement activity with students.

A Pizza Express statement said: “Partnering with NUS extra has been a great platform for us to tap into the student market. Students are becoming increasingly important in the restaurant business as they are one of the most influential groups when it comes to going out and socialising with friends. Every year, we are experiencing success with student offers and so we are increasing activity with NUS extra to further penetrate the market and engage with them.”

The survey also revealed that two thirds of cardholders’ use their card at least once every two weeks, making it part of their regular spending habits. Cardholders are drawn to the attractive discounts, and therefore are likely to show preference to brands affiliated with NUS extra.

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Genesys research shows that out of those surveyed, only 20% of UK online retailers followed up after goods were abandoned before check-out

Genesys, a major provider of multi-channel customer experience and contact centre solutions, has announced the results of a survey on the abandonment of online shopping carts.

In August, it commissioned a study into how engaged online retailers are in assisting their potential customers.

During this survey, around £140 of goods were put into the online shopping carts of 75 of the top UK retailers, which were subsequently abandoned before the check-out. Only 15% of the 75 retailers studied followed up with an email or phone call within 24 hours, and only 5% followed up again in the subsequent 24 hours. None proactively engaged with the customer during the online shopping session despite customers being active on the website for the entire time before the abandonment. Just 7% of the companies had chat as an available option and none of them used this option during the process.

Brendan Dykes, director of Strategic Marketing, Genesys, said: “We were shocked at the amount of retailers that didn’t follow-up on the abandoned shopping carts, despite the customer being online the entire time and providing their contact details.

“In other words, of the potential £10,830 revenue on offer to the retailers, £9,180 was not pursued at all and only £1,650 was pursued after the shopping cart had been abandoned. This wouldn’t happen in bricks and mortar stores, where assistants would be only too keen to follow-up or cross-sell and up-sell.

“Other industry research shows that more than 65% of online shopping carts are abandoned. In an online store, not only is business lost, but the store would probably lose customers to their competition, too.

“Retailers should not just follow-up afterwards by email or phone, but should also look to make simple additions to the online customer experience such as adding web chat – this can make a real difference to the customer, and help them find what they want.”

In a survey of 2,000 people commissioned by major digital marketing company SmartFocus, almost tw- thirds of younger shoppers (61%) said their online and physical purchasing habits are now more closely aligned – and nearly three-quarters are using their smartphone to browse, identify and buy more goods than previously.

By contrast, only 15% of those aged 55 or older use their smartphones as part of their shopping routine.

Younger shoppers are more confident about exchanging their data for a more personalised shopping experience (61%) – and are three times more likely to do so than ‘Silver Surfers’. They’re also more responsive to digital advertising, with two-thirds likely to buy something if they were sent an email or a text that included a discount code for that particular item.

Other key findings of the survey include:

– while the majority of consumers prefer to both shop and spend their money in bricks and mortar stores, most are also increasing their online shopping

– shoppers in Northern Ireland are behind the digital curve, with the majority strongly wedded to bricks and mortar shopping. They enjoy shopping and buying in stores more than any other region; they’re least likely to use smart-phones to identify and buy goods; they’re the least happiest to receive discount offers via email and/or text; and the least worried about data privacy issues when shopping.

– shopping preferences and habits are strongly linked with age

– a substantial digital gap exists between generations … Silver Surfers largely ignore the benefits of tech-led shopping while younger shoppers embrace them, especially the use of smart-phones

– younger shoppers are most likely to spot something they would like to buy in store and then purchase it online

– of those who browse in store before buying online, more than three-quarters (76%) do so to save money

– while shoppers have concerns about data privacy, the attraction of receiving a digital discount offer is enough to change most minds

– Millennials (shoppers aged between 16 and 24) are three times more likely to be happy exchanging personal information than those in the 55+ bracket.

Rob Mullen, SmartFocus CEO and retail marketing expert, observes: “With signs that economic growth is at last boosting consumer confidence, the survey demonstrates how canny and better informed shoppers have become. Using mobile phones and tablets to get the best deals around is becoming commonplace – gone are the days when retailers would simply put items up for sale and rely on customers to come in and buy them.

“In today’s digital world, it’s about reaching out to shoppers via their key piece of technology – their mobile phone – and offering them relevant deals. The survey reinforces that fact that shoppers know the value of their personal data – and are willing to trade some of that, in return to getting access to discounted offers.

“Besides the sale in question, shoppers will also benefit via marketers being able to analyse their data – and discover previously unrecognised patterns of behaviour and more accurately predict future purchases they’re likely to make.”

A shortlist has been announced of the UK’s top brands according to young people.

The Voxburner shortlist has been ranked by a panel of 18-24s to reveal the most loved youth brands in the UK. The results will be announced at the Youth 100 on November 6.

Now it its third year, the Youth 100 has expanded to make the results more meaningful to marketers and businesses – more than 3,000 young people will vote on how they feel towards the shortlist of 550 brands that are relevant to the everyday lives of 18-24s. New categories have been added including apps, online shopping, luxury brands, graduate employers and universities.

In 2013, YouTube snapped up the top spot for the second year running, with Amazon, BBC, Ben & Jerry’s and Facebook all making the top 10 and category winners across tech, fashion, entertainment, travel, finance and more included Sony, Converse, Wetherspoon, National Rail and Paypal.

Voxburner has once again partnered with creative youth agency Thinkhouse, which will be running tandem research into why brands have an impact in the lives of young people and what role they play.

Luke Mitchell, head of insight at Voxburner, said: “The Youth 100 will reveal the current sentiment of young consumers towards the brands in their lives.

“From the moment they wake up, wash, eat breakfast and buy coffee, to the time before they switch off and sleep, we’ll be looking at the brands that impact their daily lives. In three years the Youth 100 has quickly grown to become an important and much-anticipated piece of research for the marketing and advertising world.

“The youth market is very fast-paced and we’re excited to find out who the movers and shakers of 2014 will be and which new brands have made an impact.”

Emily Cramp, MD of creative youth agency, Thinkhouse, said: “We’re pumped to collaborate with youth-insight specialists Voxburner for the second year running to deliver an incredibly insightful and engaging event. We will be bringing along our knowledge and expertise of working with youth-focused brands, and latest research findings to deliver a state-of-the-nation perspective on young Britain’s relationships with brands.”

The top 100 brands will be unveiled at an exclusive awards ceremony in London hosted by radio and TV presenter George Lamb, with the stories behind the results presented at a one-day insights summit prior to the awards ceremony featuring additional speakers from leading youth brands including Costa, Domino’s, Channel 4 and Microsoft.

Registration is now open for the Youth 100 Insights Summit and Awards Ceremony, which takes place on November 6. Click here for more information.

Most UK consumers are finding mobile ads on their smartphones, tablets and other devices to be much more informative and helpful now than a year ago.

This is according to new report from the 2nd Annual UK Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study just released by xAd, the global location marketplace, and Telmetrics, a major call measurement technology provider.

Results of the 2014 study were compiled by Nielsen from an online survey of 2,000 UK smartphone and tablet users focused on the Retail, Insurance and Telecom categories.

View the xAd/Telmetrics 2014 UK Mobile Path-to-Purchase Ad Receptiveness infographic here. 

Randomised mobile ads featuring irrelevant messaging are becoming a thing of the past, as brands are analysing factors such as consumer shopping behaviour patterns and real-time location to serve ads that are more personal, relevant and timely.

As a result, consumers are clicking on ads more frequently and finding them more helpful as a key tool on their path to purchase. In fact, a third of respondents who noticed mobile ads reported clicking on at least one of them in the past 30 days.

As mobile ads continue to improve, brands will continue to see an increase in ad engagement, ultimately resulting in greater influence over their target audiences and a positive impact on their bottom lines.

Relevance is the most significant driver of clicks and engagement
The advertised product must be something the consumer is interested in, the study finds. In fact, one in three respondents reported that they clicked on an ad because it was something they were interested in or looking for. The importance of geographic relevance, or how close a consumer is to a store where they can buy the product, is also significant. Its significance in determining whether or not a consumer will engage with an ad has grown 40 per cent since 2013. Readily available and easy-to-find business contact information was also important. A quarter of survey respondents specified that they prefer ads with phone numbers.

Monica Ho, SVP of marketing at xAd, said: “Through analysing historical and real-time data, brands are now able to serve ads that are much more relevant to consumers.

“Accurate location data in particular has enabled brands to serve ads that are of interest to consumers when they’re close to a store or retail location. As we’ve seen, most customers engaging with ads are looking to make immediate purchases, so this can drive significant in-store traffic and sales for brands.”

Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the free content ‘trade off’
As the mobile advertising industry matures, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the revenue generated by ads enables their favourite sites and apps to continue producing free content. They’re also becoming more educated on location awareness and the fact that it increases relevance within mobile apps and ads. The vast majority of survey respondents said that they prefer a free website with ads over paying for an ad-free subscription, a sentiment that has increased 41 per cent since 2013.

Secondary actions are the strongest indicators of purchase intent
Secondary actions after viewing an ad, such as visiting a website or store location or calling the business, are the best indicators of purchase intent. Consumers who further engage with mobile ads post-click, have a higher purchase urgency, expectation of proximity and likelihood to convert. The frequency of these post-click activities is therefore a great measure of campaign success. 77 per cent of users who took action post-click purchased or plan to do so in the near future and 63 per cent were looking to do so within the hour. Not surprisingly, 40 per cent of respondents who took secondary actions expected the business advertised to be within 8km of their current location, once again underscoring the importance of accurate location data in mobile advertising.

Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics, said: “Post-click mobile shoppers are 2x more likely to be looking for a specific location or contact information so advertisers that include this information can help drive more purchase activity.

“Overall, the jump in mobile ad engagement among consumers is a good sign for advertisers who can now benchmark their mobile ad performance against relevancy, timeliness and geographical trends to ensure they are maximising the mobile opportunity.”