It’s now been 5 months since we entered lockdown and then slowly started to re-emerge as restrictions began to ease, bit by bit. It would be trite to say the world has changed in a way previously unrecognisable to all of us; of course it has and constantly so. In fact the pace of change makes it increasingly difficult to keep up, especially with a seemingly never-ending deluge of data and information and data being provided. Looking at these awful events from an ecommerce perspective, I’ve highlighted 5 key trends from these last 5 months to help understand the seismic shifts we’ve been experiencing with regards to how customers have been shopping during this unique period:
This Clear Digital Digest takes a look at each of these trends in turn, as well as providing some retro gaming light relief at the end… 1. ONLINE SALES HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR AS MUCH AS A THIRD OF TOTAL RETAIL SALES DURING LOCKDOWN This insightful chart from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the huge growth in ecommerce sales during lockdown, with internet sales peaking at 32.8% of all retail sales in May.
2. ECOMMERCE DROVE £658M OF ADDITIONAL GROCERY SALES JUST LAST MONTH
According to Nielsen’s head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins:
3. SUCH DYNAMIC ECOMMERE GROWTH IS SPEEDING UP SECTOR INNOVATION This step change in customer behaviour is seeing a never faster pace of innovation within the market, with recent developments including:
4. SPENDING IS VERY SQUEEZED IN OTHER SECTORS, ESPECIALLY CLOTHING AND MID-MARKET BRANDS
5. AS WELL AS ECOMMERCE INNOVATION, OTHER NEW CHANNELS ARE BEING INTRODUCED, SUCH AS PRODUCT RENTAL
AND FINALLY… As an 80s kid that loved arcade gaming and a 90s student who used part of his student loan to buy a Sega Mega Drive, before then becoming involved professionally as a PS2/Xbox buyer in the 00s, I really enjoyed watching the new Netflix video games history docuseries “High Score” - well the first two episodes I have thus far encountered anyway…
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Today’s Clear Digital Digest reviews a recent Ofcom report about our changing TV and video viewing habits since lockdown. We also take a look at changes in the ecommerce world, covering both shopper attitudes plus news from Amazon, Aldi and the mooted return of a familiar old retail brand, Comet… CHANGING VIEWING HABITS Ofcom have just released their latest annual Media Nations research report, examining how we consume TV, video, radio and audio content. This year’s events have unsurprisingly seen quite significant changes since March, so Ofcom have added two chapters to their report examining Covid-19 related trends. Some key highlights from this are:
CHANGING SHOPPING HABITS As well as changing our viewing habits, Covid19 has also fundamentally changed our shopping habits with the well documented growth in online shopping. eMarketer have taken a look at what these shifts may mean in the longer term.
Looking at other ecommerce stories, a week never seems to go by without some significant Amazon news and the last seven days are no exception.
Today’s Clear Digital Digest reviews a recent survey on changing customer attitudes as well as the latest IPA Bellwether marketing spend report. The MP3 is 25 years old this week and although not widely used these days, as the key tech that paved the way for streaming its influence can often be understated, as we explore below. Plus a look across the Channel at a new, unique way to watch films… CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND MARKETING SPEND Amongst the latest insights that emerged this week, Wunderman Thompson’s “Covid, Commerce and the Consumer” report stood out, based on a survey of 2000 UK consumers in early June. Some key highlights include:
MP3 TURNS 25 There was an important but fairly unheralded digital milestone this week, as the MP3 file turned 25.
AND FINALLY...
With cinemas closed until recently and only gradually re-opening now, one new trend has been the emergence of drive-in cinemas to bring some US retro flavour to cinephiles who are seeking more than another Netflix binge. Venues as varied as Brent Cross Shopping Centre car park and Alexandra Palace will be accommodating such yearnings this summer. However, Haagen-Dazs are adding a new flavour in Paris with their “Cinema Sur L’Eau” concept: a socially distanced cinema where customers will sit in boats rather than cars. Further investigation reveals they will be showing a film entitled Le Grand Bain (English title: Sink Or Swim), about a group of men who start their own synchronised swimming team. Certainly a wiser choice of movie to show in this environment than Jaws or Titanic. Today’s Clear Digital Digest looks at the early impact of the lockdown slightly easing last week, some updated ecommerce sales trends, Ofcom’s research regarding online usage habits and perceptions plus perhaps the scariest sports supporters seen for many a year. HAIRCUTS BEFORE HEINEKEN One of the biggest changes in the UK in the last week has obviously been the lockdown easing last Saturday (4th July) for both pubs and restaurants as well as for some other service retailers, most notably hairdressers.
ECOMMERCE SALES UPDATES
ONLINE NATION Ofcom last week released their latest report “Online Nation” that looks at what people are doing online as well as their attitudes to and experiences of using the internet.
AND FINALLY… In the week that cricket was the latest sport to return behind closed doors, its sporting cousin baseball showed off an imaginative replacement for supporters in the stadium. Japanese baseball team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks unleashed 2 different types of robotic fans for their match against Rakuten Eagles on Tuesday, who arguably look scarier than Millwall fans from the 1980s… Hi and welcome to the first Clear Digital Digest for a while, as the Clear Digital blog returns. More about that here but as before, these summaries will select a range of recent interesting, insightful and sometimes quirky ecommerce, marketing and media stories and break them down into handily digestible form. Today we’re looking at some new research on the world’s largest brands, the increasingly polarised nature of the UK retail market plus a novel way to socially distance ahead of lockdown restrictions further easing this weekend… AMAZON REMAINS THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRAND, BUT FACEBOOK FALLS
Methodology: Kantar’s BrandZ valuation process takes the financial value created by a brand in US dollars and multiplies it by brand contribution, to calculate its Brand Value: the worth in dollars that each individual brand is tangibly worth.
RETAIL’S CONTINUING DIVIDE It’s been another unfortunately contrasting week of winners and losers in the retail space.
AND FINALLY…
As Clear Digital returns this week, I’ve just published two deeper dives as well, both examining the marketplace sector. This is an area that has actually benefitted to some degree from the present turmoil, with recent stories including Etsy doubling its sales in April and music marketplace Discogs seeing usage levels increase by 65%.
And finally, with (some) pubs set to reopen this weekend – and mixed views as to what this will bring – I did like this novel solution from across the Channel that I discovered on Twitter this week… |
Jim ClearLead blogger and founder of Clear Digital: talking about ecommerce, digital, marketing and media. Categories
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