Masha Sajdeh of Arc Worldwide presented a great piece of brand new multichannel research at the In-Store Marketing Expo that took place here in Chicago last week. This studies methodology and sample was a solid:
- 3 countries
- 5,609 respondents
- 60 minute online survey
- 20 categories of products examined
- 10 unique channels probed
The entire Arc multichannel study is worth a careful read, but due to it’s length (57 pages) we’ll only examine a few portions that pertain to better understand which channel different types of multichannel shoppers are using and why.
For those not familuar with the concept of what multichannel shopping is all about, this is a great visual explanation.
So first let’s examine a few of the insights uncovered around how much time different multichannel shoppers spend per channel on a monthly basis. Surprisingly, the circular is the channel that showed the highest usage across all of the different types of mutlichannel shoppers (excluding a retailer’s own web site and store).
Note how the circular across all types of multichannel shoppers plays a critical role in adding the shopping process.
If we take a closer look at just the medium and heavy mutlichannel shoppers, the picture becomes even more stark. A retailer’s own web site and physical store are used heavily and fairly equally by both types. However the usage pattern around circulars is very different with heavy multichannel shoppers (arguable the most desirable and profitable type of shopper) using the circulars 95% of the time, which is higher than the retailer’s own web site. Even the more moderate mutlichannel shoppers are using the circulars at pretty hefty rates of 61%, which when again compared to a retailer’s own web site usage of 69% clearly demonstrates the continued importance of the circular to multichannel shoppers.
Wow, circulars are nearly as used by heavy multichannel shoppers as a retailers own physical stores!
Finally let’s try to get to the bottom of the ‘why’ – in this case, the ‘why’ is what causes these multichannel shoppers to use which channel when. Not surprising, circulars are all about saving money. Catalogs on the other hand are all about providing shoppers with inspiration.
Every single channel has a unique use and value proposition to a multichannel shopper.
Within an new eMarketer report that looks at a Myers Publishing forecast on US advertising, the Internet is on pace to be the top media channel for advertising spend by 2011. This is why being in the digital advertising space is the right place to be. However for my friends in TV, if one was to aggregate the various sub-forms such as broadcast, national and local spots and cable, they still win in this rollout view. The only thing everyone on the digital side continues to talk about and yearn for is the shift of dollars to online to happen at a faster pace than currently foretasted below.
There really is a shift in dollars underway and continuing in the coming years between more traditional channels and digital.
Posted on 31 August 2009 by Loch Rose
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ShopLocal continues to track the in-store deals offered by many top retailers, and our data shows unusual levels of activity. Consumer sentiment remains cautious but improving, so the retailers are working hard to offer them exceptional value, with the weighted average number of offers up 16% year-over-year in recent months.
After the post-holiday sales ended, deals returned to normal levels in March and April, but picked up significantly in late spring and summer. The retailers have given their customers some great deals heading into the important Back to School season, the question now is whether the customers have responded.
Posted on 1 July 2008 by Loch Rose
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The ShopLocal Index is the advertising industry’s first market indicator designed to track the influence of the Internet on in-store shopping. The Index, updated monthly, is based on an average of 20 million monthly consumer visits to store promotions that are presented on the sites of 50 major U.S. retailers. These retailers cover major retail segments such as Computers, Consumer Electronics, Office Supplies, Home Improvement, Department Stores, Mass Merchants, Grocery, Drug and various specialty stores. For the first six months of 2008, The Index showed a growth in the average number of page views of in-store promotions on major retailer sites to 33 percent from last year.
The ShopLocal Index is based on hundreds of millions of aggregated monthly page views and initially benchmarked at 100 for January 2006. The ShopLocal Index was up 29% in June 2008 year-over-year, with 245 million individual page views and 20 million consumer visits to retailers’ Web sites. Food and drug category showed the largest growth with a healthy 47% rise from last year. The home and garden category had the slowest growth, showing a dismal 17 percent rise for June. This is consistent with the retail sales slowdown in the month for this shopping area.
Shoppers’ use of the Internet for in-store shopping grew 29% in June 2008
The Internet’s impact on multi-channel shopping is a rapidly growing phenomenon, according to Forrester Research. The company estimates that a quarter of all retail sales (over 500 billion) are directly or indirectly influenced by the Web.¹ Additionally, Forrester predicts that online-influenced, offline sales will eclipse $1 trillion in 2012, accounting for nearly half of all retail sales.
View additional ShopLocal Indexes by Category:
ShopLocal has done more to understand today’s multi-channel shopper than just about any other company. Over the years, we’ve been watching how and where consumers shop, and we’ve come to an inescapable conclusion: There’s a new reality in multi-channel marketing. We call this the ROBO (research online, buy offline) shopping phenomenon.
One thing we know for sure: While consumers are spending more of their time online, they’re spending more of their money offline at the local store. And, once they get there, they spend an average of $154 in incremental purchases.¹
Clearly, the role of the Web has changed. What was once a powerful tool for generating online commerce revenues, the Web now serves as a shopping information service. In fact, online commerce, at 10 percent of total retail activity, is showing signs of reaching a plateau. While online-influenced offline sales are growing by leaps and bounds. According to a report by Forrester Research, they’ll reach $1 trillion by 2011!²
Online and Online-Influenced Retail Sales
Increasingly shoppers are using the Web as the first stop in their multi-channel experience. Online advertising can play an important role in tapping the potential of these new consumers. Yet, in 2006, Fortune 500 companies allocated only 7 percent of their marketing budgets to online media. When you consider the potential for the Web to influence sales at the local store, it simply doesn’t compute.³
The Online/Offline Balance is Out of Whack
Clearly, there’s a gap between consumer behavior and advertising spend. Gaining control of your online advertising is not just about capturing online sales any more. More and more, it’s about influencing what and how consumers buy offline. ShopLocal is here to close that gap.
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| 1. |
Forrester, The Web’s Impact On In-Store Sales: US Cross-Channel Sales Forecast, 2006-2012. |
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Forrester Research, US Cross-Channel Sales Forecast |
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Forrester, North American Benchmark Study |
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BIGresearch, Simultaneous Media Usage Survey, 12/06 |
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Forrester Research US eCommerce: Five-Year Forecast, 10/06 |
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