Year over year, we see both digital influence and mobile influence on in-store retail purchases growing by double digits, with mobile growing faster than overall digital.
Consumers have not stopped visiting brick-and-mortar stores, but digital continues to increasingly impact in-store behaviour and store sales. (source: Deloitte) All Response Media outline the 4 key points to help you understand the trajectory of digital influence and how to capitalise on shoppers shifting to digital.
1. Christmas is coming early
Well at least for shoppers. The latest figures indicate that retailers and brands can actually start to plan in advance for Christmas 2021 – unlike 2020, this is a year with more confidence and less impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. As we approach the end of the month, we are approaching a ‘key milestone in consumer Christmas preparations.
GB TGI consumer data shows that “just 4% of adults claim they start planning their Christmas present purchases in July and August, but this rises significantly to 27% in September and October.
Further data also reveals insights into how consumers are feeling about this year’s celebrations. Data collected in June displays a significant range of attitudes towards the holiday and spending during the season.
More on Christmas shopping trends and how brands should prepare for it here.
Key takeaway
With the festive season fast approaching, having access to these insights at such an early stage is key. Knowing how people are planning to shop sets businesses up in a strong position to make a triumphant comeback to Christmas after 2020.
Here at All Response Media, figures such as these help us work with clients to create the best festive media strategy for their business – working alongside our proprietary tool ARMalytics, we can see what has worked in the past to be able to predict what will work in the future. Ask us about what we can predict for your specific media needs here.
2. The rise of digital showrooms
Lixil, one of the world’s largest toilet and housing groups, is pivoting to digital showrooms with the expectation that half of its post-COVID customers will use virtual platforms.
- With 70,000 views in the first week following its launch and 4,000 appointments with customers around the world, including architects, designers and plumbers, GROHE X has been “a massive game-changer”, says a Lixil regional marketing leader.
- The use of 3D images and augmented reality in digital showrooms has enabled customers to explore a wider variety of kitchen and toilet designs than would be available in a physical showroom.
- Lixil anticipates that customer penetration levels for its digital showrooms will grow from the current figure of 10% to 50% by year-end. (Source: WARC)
Key takeaway
The increasing popularity of businesses looking to online to start making their money back has risen significantly this year. With new ways to gain back not only a loss of earnings, but also a potentially new audience, it’s no surprise why.
Being able to see the potential of this and ride the trend wave is key to businesses to succeed in the upcoming months. Brands who look to invest in digital showrooms should first dissect the changing lifestyles of their own customers and accommodate for their needs, such as those struggling to find time for physical tours.
3. E-commerce is trending
E-commerce inflation continued in July, with online prices rising more on a year-to-year comparison than they did in June, according to the latest Adobe Digital Economy Index report.
Online prices were up 3.1% in July compared to July 2020, outpacing the 2.3% year-over-year increase in June.
Adobe started to report on online price trends last month since they noticed a dramatic reversal of a five-year pattern of annual price decreases. Increased online shopping, surging demand, and supply chain shortages have now made online price increases the new normal.
Key takeaway
Similar to the rise in digital showrooms, being able to merge this increase in businesses opting for digital with your current marketing plans is key. With many people making the shift to nearly total online shopping, brands are now in increasing competition with one another, for both profit and customers.
Finding the sweet spot between pricing your product and how to display it is a tough one, and our digital team work behind the scenes to analyse the competition to help you make better business decisions.
4. Major influencers still hold the power
The hype surrounding the power of micro-influencers continues to rise, however, new research surfacing from Retail Times shows that those with larger followings can generate better commercial returns for beauty brands.
In influencer-led beauty campaigns where customers were offered the chance to redeem free samples of products, the number of followers who opted-in to claim their samples and hear more from brands in the future was 53% higher amongst those coming from the Instagram profiles of larger influencers (those with more than 1 million followers) compared to so-called ‘micro-influencers’ (those with less than 50,000 followers).
Key takeaway
Influencers have always been a great way to attract new audiences, and it’s no shock that those with bigger followings = a larger audience pool. It is a given that incorporating influencer marketing into your strategy is an effective way to increase the number of people who interact with your product. And whilst major influencers may still seem to be ahead, micro-influencers are still incredibly important to brands looking to reach a more niche and a potentially more loyal buyer.
The question is whether you should follow this industry influencer narrative, or disrupt what other players in your industry are doing so that you can become an innovator. Contact us here so that one of our digital account directors can shed a light on the best tactics your brand-specific objectives should be focusing on to become an innovator.
