- The web has become the tool of choice to help consumers select according to their own particular needs and preferences. Some 80% of adults browse the internet in order to secure the best deals.
- Saving time matters to people so retailers would do well to develop tools and tactics that can shave off even a few moments in the shopping journey.
- User generated content has become an important marketing tool. Some 43% of adults like to read customer reviews before making their decisions and 22% of consumers have posted reviews of their purchases online.
- However only 19% of people say they trust customer reviews. Research suggests that consumers are more trusting of companies that host and face their critics and act upon their opinion so all retailers need to take this on board.
- Young people and men are less likely to read, post or trust customer reviews. Companies could use social media to promote the worthiness of sharing views with a wider audience.
- Smarter marketing messages that speak to a multidimensional man could encourage male shoppers to engage more with customer reviews and share opinion on less traditionally male oriented categories like grooming and fashion.
- Social media is becoming a more influential part of the retail landscape. Some 11% of adults follow brands and retailers on Twitter and/or Facebook and 9% have clicked the ‘like’ button on Facebook and/or tweeted about products bought.
- Retailers would do well to court the most influential people on social media as this vehicle empowers them with a much wider reach than they once had and many more incentives.Some 53% of people shop online so they can do so when it suits them and 51% spend this way to save having to travel to the shops.Key analysis: people are more time-pressed than ever so the internet appeals because it can be quicker and less hassle so freeing ourselves up for other things. Techniques to maximize our time and productivity are popping up all around so retailers would do well to develop tools and tactics that can shave off even a few moments in the shopping journey.Amazon’s fantastic ‘one click’ option is a great example of this in action.Interestingly respondents in our discussion group commented more on the time saving advantages of online shopping than lower prices (often cited in the past groups). We wonder if this is because the differences between offline and online prices have narrowed in recent years. But a number of people did mention the petrol saving angle (see The Consumer – OnlineShopping Channels) perhaps because pump prices have risen so sharply in the last few years.
“Online shopping is just easier and cheaper. I don’t have to go up town to get stuff. If there was a local collect service or a free service to deliver at specific times of the day I would shop online more.”
“I shop from home because it saves me time, and up to now I have had no bad experiences.”
“I shop from home because it’s easy and convenient to do so. I don't drive so I don't have to worry about getting the products home and sometimes when it comes to clothing, they don’t have them in the shop but do have them online.”
“It's easy to compare the market, whatever you're buying. It saves a lot of time. I live in a small town so there aren’t many stores available here in the first place. But even when I used to live in a city it just takes forever to go around all the stores. It can take a lot of time to do it online too if you're really researching something but at least you don't have to do it all in one sitting.”
Turning negative user generated content into a positive
Social media is becoming a more influential part of the retail landscape. 11% of adults follow brands and retailers on Twitter and/or Facebook and 9% have clicked the like button on Facebook and/or tweeted about products bought.Key analysis: today we pay as much if not more attention to what our peers say as what marketers say. Social media, which over the last decade has become downright ubiquitous, have played their part in this and some peers have become more influential than others. For instance a study by ExactTarget found that consumers who are active on Twitter are three times more likely to impact a brand’s online reputation through syndicated Tweets, blog posts, articles and product reviews than the average consumer. Retailers would do well to court the most powerful as we may be coming full circle from influence in the hands of a few, to everyone-as-influencer, and back to some more influential than others. But the difference today is that the influential have a much wider reach than they once had and many more incentives.Overall, this Mintel study reinforces how the use of the internet is a very powerful tool and is able to sway consumers into making purchases this way rather than visiting a store. This has made me aware that I will most definitely need the website up and running along with an app too to allow consumers to make orders from the comfort of wherever they are. This is more convenience than anything else. Also, I have become aware that it is all about saving the consumer time, they might not always want to travel to a store which means that if there was nothing available online the profit may not be as high due to majority of orders being placed online.Another key point that I found interesting when reading this was finding out that social is becoming the new massive scale to advertise on. With this being so, i will allow the service to be placed on Facebook, Twitter and instagram to show clips of what will be coming soon and how they layout and presentation will be set within the service. This is going to be a massive service so with the help of the mintel reports I am finding hopefully this will allow the service to take off and be presented in a clear, professional manner.
Friday 28 February 2014
Mintel - E-Commerce Study
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