Digital, real-time and predictive: research reveals future of retail marketing

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Digital, real-time and predictive: research reveals future of retail marketing.

New research by SaaS technology company, Eagle Eye, has found that personalisation is no longer a bonus but a marketing necessity. Some 75% of consumers say they are unhappy with generic offers and 81% consider relevance to be the most influential factor in whether they redeem promotions.

Digital demand

Eagle Eye's research also found that 58% of consumers were most likely to redeem promotions sent via digital channels such as mobile, email and social media. This effect was even greater in younger consumers, where 67% of 16-24 year olds expressed a preference for tech-enabled channels.

"Not only are digital channels the most effective, but they are also the only way retailers can gather the real-time customer data needed to time marketing messages to maximum effect," says Tim Mason, CEO of Eagle Eye. "Using the insight provided by data, retailers can identify the best moment to send a tempting offer incentivising customers to add something extra to their purchase, or engage with a brand when they might not otherwise."

Predictive offers

Eagle Eye's research also revealed an increasing demand for predictive offers. Nearly three quarters (73%) of respondents said they would find it useful to be offered promotions for items they had run out of.

By collecting and analysing consumer data, forward-thinking retailers can predict regular customer purchases and send tailored offers to change consumer behaviour.

With 79% of customers saying they are open to trying options other than their usual brand if they are on offer, retailers can capitalise on this by sending a targeted offer to upsell a different, more expensive product, for example, an alternative brand or related product.

Real-time offers

The research also found an increasing demand for real-time offers and supported the trend for convenience shopping. 58% of 16-24 year olds said it would be useful to have offers delivered to them when near a store, for example when shopping in town. This highlights a trend for more spontaneous purchases, with customers moving away from keeping vouchers aside for a weekly trip with a fixed destination.

"By sending targeted offers we are trying to drive two things; either another shopping trip or additional product purchase; real-time promotions are an important addition to the promotional armoury, particularly for stretching spend," continues Tim Mason. "Businesses need to invest in mobile, which allows them to deliver offers straight to a customer's hand. With 'near me' searches booming, and 88% of them done on mobile, it's high-time businesses adapt to mobile-enabled, real-time marketing."

Consumer research

2,000 adults from England, Scotland and Wales participated in the study. The survey was drafted by Eagle Eye and the data was outsourced and gathered in September 2017 by Censuswide, an online research database which polled the respondents on our behalf.