Archive for 2021

Customers want more from retailers. It’s not that they’ve deliberately set out to be more demanding, it’s simply something that’s happened over time and a trend the pandemic has accelerated further still.

The combination of new technology, social media, ecommerce and our always-on culture has meant that consumers want more than service with a smile. They want (and expect) service that is fast, reliable, personalised and super-efficient.

As a Forbes article points out: They’re not making customers like they used to. Which means retailers need to offer customers an omnichannel service that spans online, offline and everything in between.

A recent post on Internet Retailing brings together the latest research into how 2021’s customers want to buy products and services and what retailers can do to meet their expectations.

1. Speedy delivery

According to research by mobile and IoT provider SOTI, having to wait for an item to be delivered is the most frustrating part of shopping online. Almost four in ten (39%) of those questioned for the From Bricks to Clicks: State of Mobility in Retail 2021 report agreed.

In fact, a faster delivery time is one of the deciding factors for customers when choosing which brand to give their cash. Three in ten UK respondents said they prefer to buy from brands that will get items to them in the shortest amount of time, while 37% would look for an alternative retailer if an item had a delivery time of more than two days.

Click and collect is also proving a popular option, with 45% saying they’d prefer to pay online and pick up from a physical store if that meant getting an item on the day of purchase.

2. Liberal return policies, please

Shoppers have always liked free and easy product returns. Many choose to shop with retailers who they know will take products back hassle-free and the SOTI research shows this is still the case in 2021.

Well over half (58%) of UK shoppers claim they would buy more from a particular store if they were confident it offered a simple returns process. Meanwhile, 64% said they’d like to see an automated returns process to speed up the retail experience.

3. Personal data: handle with care

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the volume of personal data retailers hold about them – they know where they live, what they eat, what they like to do in their spare time, etc. Payment details are also a concern, with 50% of SOTI’s respondents saying they’d previously abandoned an online purchase because they didn’t trust a particular ecommerce site with their bank details.

Generally speaking, consumers are more likely to trust bigger retailers (63%) when it comes to keeping their personal and payment date secure. Many respondents (45%) also said they felt anxious about a smaller retailer’s ability to keep their data safe.

Speaking about the importance of customer confidence around data security, Sarah Edge, director of sales, UK and Ireland at SOTI said that retailers, “need to give consumers peace of mind that their data and money are safe, [and offer] a unique customer experience that takes in everything from finding the right product, through to payment and delivery, to renewal or returns.”

4. Buy local, or bye local

Over the past 12 months, grocery delivery slots have been like gold-dust, causing many consumers to look to their local high streets instead. With big supermarkets dealing with higher demand, the number of people searching Google for local product availability has shot up. A study by NearSt estimated 6.3 million people checked local product availability online last year.

Despite evidence in the sharp uptake of ecommerce during the pandemic, it’s important not to overlook the even more dramatic growth in local search. Consumers are focusing their attention on local, independent retailers, which is encouraging news for high streets everywhere.

5. Bog-standard loyalty schemes won’t cut it

Loyalty schemes are everywhere, but customers want more than your average scheme. According to research by Adyen, 55% feel that loyalty schemes don’t give them what they want, while 62% think retailers need to improve the way they reward customers.

Instead, customers want a more connected experience, moving seamlessly between online shopping and bricks and mortar shopping. Customers are willing to stay loyal to retailers – as long as they show willing. That might be letting them buy items that are out of stock in-store and having them delivered to their homes (60%), or allowing them to buy online and return in store (53%).

Meeting customer expectations

Ecommerce has placed convenience and usability at the centre of the customer experience. It’s now up to retailers to offer the very best of the physical and digital worlds to create exceptional customer experiences.

At Delta, we’re on hand to empower brands and retailers, helping you deliver dynamic multichannel marketing solutions. To find out more, get in touch with the team today.

The past year has been a rollercoaster, with the pandemic changing the world around us. Businesses have had to evolve – and what customers expect from brands has changed, too. Today’s consumers are thinking about more than just whether a retail item is available, they are also wondering how to shop in physical stores safely.

With most shops shut at certain periods during the pandemic, many customers turned to ecommerce. Retailers responded by promoting brands online. But while the rise of online sales is likely to continue as restrictions start to ease, competition in the virtual world is fierce and many consumers are keen to return to bricks-and-mortar shopping.

It’s up to retailers to work out how to give them what they want – a safe in-store experience, where they can select items from shelves or racks – complete with the human touch.

Digital signage can help by increasing brand awareness, and thus influencing the purchasing decision. The challenge for retailers is how to offer customers a more unique in-store experience. For that they need digital signage adorned with dynamic content and engaging messages that resonate with the audience.

Connecting with customers in a post-Covid world is a vital next step for many retailers. The impact of the pandemic has hit hard and customers and staff want reassurance, convenience and relevancy.

At Delta, we offer digital signage solutions that can help you and your customers with all of those things – and more.

From real-time safety messages to sleek brand promotions, Delta Signage gets the right content, to the right people, at the right time. Screens can be placed at the store entrance or in front of customers at the point of sale, helping transform the physical retail experience, increase sales, and boost loyalty.

Working with clients from across the retail and FMCG sectors, our content management systems allow communications to be controlled both centrally and locally for maximum benefit.

To find out how we can help generate creative content for digital signage, speak to the team at Delta today.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £5 billion scheme to help support high street shops and hospitality businesses as they look to find their footing post-pandemic.

The announcement, which formed part of the Spring Budget, aims to help businesses as restrictions in England are eased and we move out of lockdown.

The grants are designed to avoid mass redundancies as the economy struggles to recover from the impact of Covid-19, reports the BBC.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Sunak acknowledged that the retail and hospitality sectors had faced an “incredibly difficult year” and that the grants would give them the “support they need to get them through, [and] get them back on their feet.”

He continued by saying: “Local businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic – which is why we went big and went early with a multibillion pound package of support.”

The so-called ‘restart grants’ could see nearly 700,000 businesses receiving up to £18,000 each. The money would be distributed directly to eligible businesses by local authorities from April this year, replacing the current monthly grant scheme.

The funding news has been welcomed by the retail industry, but some groups feel the support does not go far enough.

Speaking about the announcement, Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, described the grants as a “vital injection of funding”. However, she pointed out that it would “only provide temporary relief” if the business rate holiday did not continue.

Meanwhile, Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Business, urged the Chancellor to release more funding “for those that have been excluded from income support throughout this crisis.”

Other groups have called for an extension to the furlough scheme and a temporary drop in VAT on hospitality sales.

According to the Treasury, these retail grants will take the total spend on direct grants to businesses as a result of the pandemic to £25 billion.

At Delta Group, we deliver multichannel marketing services designed to help brands navigate the post-pandemic landscape. Get in touch with the team to find out how we can help your business on the road to recovery.

Footfall in the UK is predicted to increase by nearly 50% when non-essential retail restrictions are eased next month.

New figures from insights company Springboard suggest that footfall will rise by 47.9% from 12 April – the date earmarked for when non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality businesses in England can open their doors again.

With England home to roughly 84% of the UK’s population, the jump in footfall figures is expected to rise sharply year-on-year when lockdown comes to an end there.

Other parts of the UK plan to ease restrictions at different times. Wales has pushed back opening stores from 15 March to the same date as England, while Scotland plans to open its non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality businesses from 26 April. In Northern Ireland, the lockdown review has been extended to 1 April, so non-essential shops will stay closed until at least that date.

According to the Springboard data, England’s high streets will experience the sharpest rise in footfall – set to increase 59% week-on-week in the week starting 11 April. During those seven days it is predicted that footfall in shopping centres will rise by 46%, and in retail parks by 26%.

This cautious optimism is echoed in market research firm GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index, which rose five points in February this year to -23. There’s still some way to go, with the figure significantly below the -7 score recorded in February 2020 as the pandemic was just emerging.

While the roll-out of the vaccination is giving people renewed confidence, consumer confidence will take time to improve.

However, as the economy reopens, the retail industry is hoping that a strong initial uplift in April will continue over the summer months.

Speaking about the findings, Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said: “Lockdown fatigue is at its height and the increases in footfall over the last five weeks have indicated the pent-up demand for a return to normality.”

She continued: “By mid-April, consumers will be looking for sensory and social retail experiences, reconnecting with their favourite brands and purchasing new wardrobes for a summer of social events.”

As Europe’s leading visual communications specialist, we have the skills and solutions that will empower your brand to reconnect with customers post-lockdown. Get in touch today to find out more.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has placed a huge amount of strain on physical retail. With high streets already feeling the effects of the increasing popularity of ecommerce, 2020 saw this amplified at breakneck speed.

However, retailers are not taking things sitting down. We are seeing an increasing push towards omnichannel retail and reimagined bricks and mortar retail spaces, as a result of fast-tracked strategic reviews.

With physical stores closed for months at a time over the course of the past year, retailers are focusing on how best to redesign, transform and consolidate the future of physical retail.

More scope for the human touch in retail

One positive is that retailers have got so much more to offer their customers than products and services. According to research by Ubamarket, 50% of consumers said that visiting shops and supermarkets during lockdown was essential in reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.

With so much uncertainty around tourism in 2021, consumers are going to be looking for other pick-me-ups. And retailers will be looking to fill that gap, managing opportunities as they appear and making informed decisions about which segments, markets and channels to pursue.

While e-commerce has increased as a result of the pandemic, retailers have found the reopening of physical stores boosted sales further still. Marc Metrick, president and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue has been struck by just how important physical stores are to consumers.

As he explained: “Stores are a very important part of the overall customer experience. For luxury especially, it’s theatre. To touch, to feel, to experience.”

He continued by saying he was surprised by the resilience of customers as they sought comfort and “escapism” through their retail experiences.

Other retailers would agree that bricks and mortar stores remain an important part of retail. Many brands have found a sharp uptake of omnichannel services – such as click and collect and buy online, return in-store.

Customers like the human touch in retail and aren’t ready to let that go. Retailers who can harness omnichannel marketing strategies will be able to offer the kind of modern logistics shoppers are coming to expect.

Experiential offerings: Upping the ante

Our high streets are facing a period of evolution. Even before the pandemic, we’d seen a drop in demand for retail spaces – resulting in cheaper rents and more opportunity for short-term leases in recent years.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, smaller physical retail spaces (such as Arcadia Group’s Topshop and Miss Selfridge) have proved easier to repurpose than larger department store spaces (such as Debenhams).

Brands are taking this opportunity to rethink their physical retail spaces and revise formats. Flagship stores are being rebranded as discovery zones, in which customers can make a more emotional connection with brands via experiential retail. According to analysts at McKinsey, getting this right comes down to retailers “leveraging data and analytics to predict footfall, manage assortments, and build personalised offerings.”

After all, where big-name brands go, the rest tend to follow. According to McKinsey: “We have already seen Burberry and Nike, as well as digitally native ARIAS New York, invest in hybrid spaces and deploy technologies such as apps and body scans to create more compelling experiences.”

Brands must also make sure they continue to engage with social media as a way to offer shoppers exclusive content and more personalised experiences.

At Delta Group, we can help you create dynamic multichannel marketing campaigns to help secure a robust future in-store and beyond. Find out how we can help your brand connect with your customers and emerge from the pandemic stronger. Get in touch with the team today.

What are shoppers looking for when making purchases? According to new research, they want good value and discounts, reports Retail Times.

The Promotion at the Speed of Customer Demand report revealed that 78% of customers said money off would make them more likely to buy a product.

Value as the primary driver to purchase is also evident in consumers’ desire to save on delivery costs, which was cited as the second most popular type of offer. Over half (55%) of shoppers polled for the report said that the offer of free shipping would also encourage them to buy, underlining the rise in online shopping during the course of the pandemic.

Third on the list of drivers to purchase was a price reduction when buying multiple items. Almost half (46%) of those questioned said that a cheaper price on multi-buys would motivate them to make a purchase.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to create financial uncertainty for consumers, immediate value is being prioritised over other purchasing motivators such as future savings or exclusive content.

According to the report, 20% of shoppers said that access to free services would sway their purchasing decisions. Fewer still would be motivated by a subscription giving future savings or exclusive content – 10% and 9% respectively.

In terms of which sectors are hitting the mark with promotions, supermarkets came out on top – not surprising as they are one of the small number of retailers allowed to stay open during lockdowns. Seven in ten (70%) respondents cited grocery retailers as offering the best promotions, compared to just 8% citing fashion retailers.

The report highlights the anxiety felt by shoppers about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to pricing and promotions, meaning retailers are able to rapidly adapt their promotions to meet ever-shifting consumer preferences.

Speaking about the report’s findings, Robin Coles, EMEA MD of XCCommerce said: “Retailers need to build promotions around the needs of the customer and react quickly based on customer insights and preferences, to increase retention and loyalty.”

He continued by saying that the solution is to automate the processes of managing multi-channel promotions to allow marketing teams to “implement promotions that drive customer loyalty and margin without the need for complex, lengthy and costly changes to their legacy systems.”

At Delta Group, we want to empower your imagination and help you connect to your customers. Find out how we can help you deliver impact and boost sales.

It’s an understatement to say the coronavirus pandemic has caused a shift in consumer shopping behaviour. The changes have been huge.

According to the ONS, ecommerce sales increased 46% year-on-year in 2020. Retailers must now reassess their digital strategies to ensure they are capturing and converting these new audiences.

Here, we consider five ways retailers can approach their ecommerce strategies in 2021 so they attract and retain customers online.

1. Shine a light on social and influencer marketing

With research showing consumers are spending an increasing amount of time on social media, retailers need to turn their attention to their social and influencer marketing efforts. According to RWRC’s Ecommerce 2021 report, 35% of UK consumers have bought an item after seeing it on social media, while nearly a quarter have been persuaded to make a purchase based on an influencer’s review.

Different social media platforms can be used to target different demographics – TikTok for Gen Z, Facebook for older generations, for example. With the right strategies, brands can use social media and influencer marketing to make low-cost, high-gain investments to reach target audiences.

Marketers also need to ensure they are up-to-speed with regulatory compliance on social platforms. Total transparency about a brand’s relationship with an influencer is key.

2. Use brand discovery and discovery commerce to stand out

With so much competition online, you need your brand to cut through the noise. So, how do customers discover your brand? 

Brand discoverability is all about the whole package – the product, experience, service, brand story, and values. Add to that discovery commerce (which is based on the experience of a customer browsing a physical store until they find the right product), and you can start to anticipate customer needs, matching items to customers based on their online behaviour.

Brands must understand as much as possible about their customer – it’s the only way to engage them and maximise brand discovery.

3. Greater collaboration holds the key to success

Alongside the big ecommerce hitters such as Amazon and eBay, there are a host of smaller and independent platforms driving forward consumer spending. According to the RWRC report, 73% of consumers in the UK are shopping via online marketplaces. Meanwhile, just 3.6% say they never shop on Amazon.

Brand presence on these platforms is vital, with 46% of customers saying they are less likely to shop with a retailer if their products are not available on online marketplaces. This kind of collaboration can help retailers work smarter and engage with existing audiences. Handing over profit to third parties might put some retailers off, but their scale and reach is undeniable.

4. UX should be second-to-none

One sure-fire way to retain customers is to offer them unbeatable online user experience (UX). But the UX customers expect and the UX being offered by retailers doesn’t always go hand-in-hand. 

Consumers are looking for intuition and convenience when shopping online. Brands can achieve these goals in a number of ways. From accurate sizing tools allowing customers to buy fashion that fits, to virtual shopping experiences, there are clear rewards for retailers who fine-tune and invest in their UX.

5. Use personalisation to build closer consumer connections

Retailers need to go deep with their personalisation efforts. Deep, data-driven personalisation can help attract and retain customers. By analysing customer purchasing behaviours, search terms and other metrics, brands can make recommendations that resonate and serve up content that speaks to target audiences.

Loyalty schemes are a popular way retailers can capture customer data. They work by bringing together in-store and online customer behavioural and transactional data, allowing brands to further engage with individual customers.

At Delta Group, we specialise in delivering dynamic multichannel marketing campaigns to clients around the world. Find out how we can help your brand connect with your customers. Get in touch with the team today.

It’s stating the obvious, but 2020 has posed some serious challenges for retailers. The ongoing uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic makes it hard to predict what lies ahead for the retail industry.  

While online sales have soared, many physical stores have been forced to close during lockdowns and sales in many segments have fallen.

However, the retail industry needs to be ready to meet these changing demands and technology holds a number of solutions.

An article on DevPro Journal reveals four retail industry trends we can expect in the year ahead.

Move from ‘push’ to ‘pull’ model: Subrah Iyar, CEO and co-founder of Moxtra

Rather than pushing their services onto customers, retailers will use digital solutions to do business where consumers can pull services on demand. To make this happen, says Iyar, “digital workspaces will be consolidated to act as virtual extensions of businesses”. Advantages of this model include more humanised customer engagement – where interactions between customers and brand representatives are carried out via private digital channels, allowing for more collaboration and an improved customer experience. Brands will also benefit from a managed overview of these interactions to help build stronger relationships.

Communication becomes more effective: Christine Spang, CTO of Nylas

There are a host of communication platforms available. And as Spang explains, in 2021 we will see the “communications API industry expand their footprint to accommodate this abundance of platforms to meet consumers where they are.” This uniting of communication methods will help brands seamlessly reach consumers across all channels.

Transformation of POS: Scott Agatep, executive vice president, solutions and services at ScanSource

Spurred by the impact of Covid-19 on business, 2021 will see rapid changes in POS technology. “All business functions, from payments to inventory management and payroll [need to be] easy and accessible to everyone,” says Agatep. Retail-specific developers are going to have to provide innovative software that can keep pace with constantly changing business environments and consumer demands.

The influence of millennials: Tim Harris, CEO of FuturePay

The influence and buying power of millennials will be another key theme of 2021. According to Harris: “Millennials are rejecting traditional payment solutions like credit cards in favour of options that are integrated into their favourite merchants’ ecommerce sites, such as digital revolving credit.” Research shows that 67% of millennials don’t have a credit card because they consider them a financial burden. The solution will be more flexible online payment options to meet this demand.

At the Delta Group, we are proud of our can-do attitude to the challenges ahead. Our tech allows clients to take control of their digital and print retail requirements. Get in touch to find out more.

Looking at the data relating to Covid-19, there’s a real blend of positive and negative. Making for grim reading are the numbers of deaths and hospitalisations as a result of the pandemic. But, alongside that is the number of people who have received the vaccine (more than £10 million and counting).

This mix of highs and lows can also be seen in retail data. Figures from the British Retail Consortium reveal a drop of 0.3% in annual sales growth – a result of retailers having to shut their doors during each lockdown. But just as consumers were quick to start spending after November’s lockdown, the same is expected to happen once the current restrictions are lifted. A KPMG/Ipsos study suggests sales growth of up to 3% in 2021.

Shops may be shut again, but The Drum highlights why retailers should feel confident about recovery before the year is out.

Despite huge challenges in 2020, retail has shown remarkable resilience. Predictions for sales volumes during the second lockdown did not look promising. However, despite stores having to close, sales for November 2020 stayed 2.6% higher than February’s level in the year to November.

Retailers have overcome challenges by creating more flexibility – everything from new safety measures to new ways of trading – all at short notice. Click and collect, virtual shop floors and placing sales experts in call centres have given customers the convenience they expect and encouraged them to spend.

The more confident consumers are about the future, the more likely they are to part with their cash. But it’s hard to feel confident when faced with a pandemic and our mental – as well as physical – health has suffered as a result. Luckily, positives such as the furlough scheme and now the vaccine have helped boost consumer confidence.

According to a KPMG/Ipsos think tank, during the second half of 2021 consumers will have more savings and more confidence (once vaccinated). As a result, demand will rise as we emerge from the third lockdown. Of course, different categories will see different levels of performance, but the overall picture is looking positive.

Of the brands that have done well, omnichannel strategies have been key to their success. Dunelm and Dixons Carphone Warehouse are looking at impressive pre-tax profits thanks to a strong online presence and investment.

Demand for the physical retail experience shouldn’t be underestimated either. When shops have reopened, customers have hit the high streets. At the end of the second lockdown, footfall increased by 20% – and that was before anyone had been vaccinated. In truth, customers are missing the retail experience and are keen to rediscover it again.

Shopping with purpose is another trend to emerge from the pandemic. Consumers go out to buy, and don’t come home empty-handed. As customers return to physical stores, we can expect profits to rise – especially when it comes to large electronic items that consumers would rather buy in store.

It can be hard to stay positive when faced with such a huge crisis. But with consumer confidence rising, retailers can use key strategies to entice consumers back through their doors. The positive signs for retail are there – as long as you know where to look.

At The Delta Group, we help retail businesses find solutions to whatever challenges they face and give consumers what they want. Get in touch with the team today.

Last year saw a huge surge in ecommerce as consumers sought Covid-safe ways to shop, with total online retail sales increasing 36% compared to 2019.

This figure signals the highest online sales growth in 13 years, reports Retail Gazette – an encouraging takeaway from a year beset by lockdowns and consumer restrictions.

The data, taken from the IMRG Capgemini Retail Index, also revealed that online retail sales in December rose by 37% year on year.

Considering predictions made earlier in the year put online retail growth at 7.8% and forecast a dismal Christmas trading period, many retailers found reasons to celebrate.

With Christmas sales starting early, online shopping managed to hold onto some of the momentum it had gained during Q4, and sales rose by nearly 38% between October and December.

Looking at the online sales data for December in more depth, electricals (up 116% year on year) and gardening items (165% increase) were particularly strong.

IMRG data also highlighted that multichannel retailers performed “significantly better” than their online-only counterparts. In December 2020, this spending trend was seen in growth figures of 57% (multichannel retailers) and 9.1% (pure plays).

Speaking about these findings, Lucy Gibbs, managing consultant for retail insight at Capgemini said: “Retail in 2020 has been fundamentally shaped by the pandemic, which caused disruption to consumer demand norms and a shift in focus to digital channels.”

But the more responsive retailers are, the greater the rewards. As Gibbs continued: “Smaller retailers outperform[ed] the larger ones, perhaps due to the ability to be more agile in response to the changes.”

As we move further into 2021, retailers need to remain nimble and react quickly to the constantly evolving retail landscape. Opportunities will present themselves, says Gibbs, but successful retailers will be those who can switch between in-store and online offerings and are ready to “take on opportunities as they come in 2021.”

Making predictions amid such uncertainty is not easy. As IMRG insight director Andy Mulcahy explained: “At the start of each year we usually provide a forecast for online sales growth for the coming year. In 2020 things changed rapidly, and it makes predicting 2021 extremely difficult.”

However, he continued, in 2021 we might “have to adjust our understanding of what good looks like.”

At The Delta Group we help businesses get ready to take on new opportunities. To see how we help clients navigate these complex times, get in touch with the team today.