Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
Research from Barclaycard Payments, which processes nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, reveals that 88% of retailers saw increased demand for in-home experiences – such as DIY meal kits – over the past three months. Of retailers who do offer at-home services, 88% have seen sales increase as a result.
Despite more than half of retailers initially planning their insperience product lines to be temporary, 35% of shoppers intend to continue investing in insperiences even after lockdown ends.
In addition, retailers predict the insperience economy will be worth £168m over the next 12 months, an increase in value of 32%.
Consumers said they would continue investing in insperiences because they are: are fun (27%) and novel (26%), and that they help them manage their time more efficiently (31%).
Retailers cite increasing brand awareness (75%), creating a new point of contact with consumers (73%), and establishing themselves as trusted partners in their sector (70%) as key motivations for continuing to develop their insperience offering.
In addition, 70% of retailers predict insperiences will pave the way for a new era of personalised retail experiences, believing that they provide greater scope to tailor products and services to individual consumers.
Kirsty Morris, managing director for account development at Barclaycard Payments, said: “Lockdown has undoubtedly been challenging for retailers, but it’s promising to see how many have been quick to cater their product lines to consumers looking for entertainment and personalised products while at home.
“Over the past few months we’ve helped many of our merchant customers transition to take advantage of the insperience economy by setting them up to start taking online payments, which is testament to their agility as they’ve adapted to the ‘new normal’. With more businesses now online, we expect the demand for insperiences to continue even as lockdown restrictions ease.”
