Tag: UK

Experian says 80 pct of shoppers use hard-copy catalogues before going online

Posted by | Aug 16, 2007 | |

Experian’s poll of more than 1,500 British consumers found that seven out of 10 have shopped from home in the past year. Of those, 80 pct found the product they wanted in a catalogue and then went online to order it.
Major factors fuelling “flick to click” behaviour are time-poor, cash-rich consumers using online shopping for convenience (63 pct) and to get access to high quality goods (37 pct), Experian said.
The most active markets in the past year were home goods and furnishings, which quintupled, and men’s fashion, which more than trebled.

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Royal Mail posts first loss in six years

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

Royal Mail slipped into the red for the first time in six years on its first and second- class and bulk business mail, incurring an operating loss of GBP 12m last year after a profit of GBP 197m in 2005-06.

Royal Mail’s operating costs were up GBP 181m at GBP 5.97 bn, despite shedding 6,300 jobs. The postal operator is likely to use the figures, which were submitted to Postcomm, the regulator last month, to press home its demand for an easing of price controls.

In its report, Royal Mail argued that it was suffering from a shrinking market as competition intensified and customers sought cheaper products that had not been anticipated by the regulator when it set its last price regime only 15 months ago.

The company is making an average loss of 5.6 p on each stamped item, amounting to GBP 185m for the year. It also lost GBP 61m on its bulk business mailing services. Its doorstep deliveries on behalf of other bulk mail operators that collect and sort the mail themselves doubled to over 2.4bn items under the new competitive regime introduced in 2006.

Royal Mail’s results also show that it made a slight profit, of GBP 27 m, on those services covered by its universal service obligation. This undermines the argument put forward by some of the company’s supporters that it is hamstrung by its duty to deliver mail to every address in the country at a standard rate.

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Home shoppers mixing offline and online channels

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

Shoppers are increasingly using catalogues to pick a product before going online to place their order, signaling a new trend dubbed ‘flick to click’ shopping, according to research from Experian.

Experian polled more than 1,500 British consumers and found that seven out of 10 have shopped from home in the last year, of which 80 pct found the product in a catalogue and went online to place the order. Consumers cited “convenience” as a major factor behind this lifestyle choice, with “access to high quality goods” also declared as a crucial aspect.

However, consumers warned that follow-up telephone calls are not acceptable, with 73pct calling this communication a major turn-off. A monthly or quarterly email or posted newsletter would be more welcome, and 60 pct would be happy to receive it.

Mark Peacock, home shopping consultant at Experian Integrated Marketing, believes the trend has been triggered by brands integrating their offline catalogue marketing campaigns with their online sales capabilities.

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Argos to roll out self-service kiosks

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

Argos will be rolling out self-service kiosks to more of its stores through a new deal with Retec Digital and IBM. The kiosks allow customers to order and pay for items in one go.

According to the Daily Mirror, the order is for more than 300 kiosks, although Retec chief executive John Cole hopes Argos will eventually install kiosks in all 700 stores.

Argos customers currently have to choose their item from a catalogue, fill in an order form, queue to pay and then queue to collect the item. The additional kiosks aim to cut waiting time for customers.

Retec said it had deployed a significant number of kiosks across the Argos estate in the financial year ended June 30, 2007 and that the latest order was a further endorsement of the success of the kiosks in Argos stores.

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Integrated digital and direct mail campaigns win consumer vote

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

Royal Mail’s consumer study to understand the best uses of different advertising methods also revealed nearly seven in ten people believe that direct mail supports online advertising.

And those who prefer to engage with both direct mail and online advertising spend on average GBP 105 a month on goods and services after receiving a combination of the two – GBP 19 more than those who like online ads only and GBP 34 more than those who would choose only direct mail.

The research, carried out by Quadrangle, identified specific circumstances in which it makes sense for companies to use DM and online when communicating with customers:

• More than half of confident web users (55 per cent) prefer to be contacted by a combination of DM and online

• Nearly three times as many web users think direct mail is more personal than online communications and 50 per cent more said it was more professional

• Only 14 per cent of consumers mostly or always click on online advertising

• Whilst 50 per cent of people were found to rarely, if ever, look or interact with online advertising.

The research also revealed compelling arguments for a combination of email and direct mail:

• 84 per cent of people agree that there is a place for both post and email from companies

• 69 per cent feel that email is best used for supporting or clarifying the mail they receive

• Six in ten agreed that they would prefer a company to approach them first by post, than by email

• Over half of respondents (52 per cent) believe that DM gives a better impression of a company than email

• Eight in ten believe that email is best for communicating brief messages

• 66 per cent prefer to receive detailed information by direct mail

• 69 per cent prefer to receive important or sensitive messages by direct mail

• 71 per cent would rather receive vouchers, brochures or catalogues by mail

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