retailx stream: direct to consumer in 2021
TRANSCRIPT
Key findings from the consumer polling on attitudes to Direct to Consumer in 2021
RetailX Stream takes an in-depth, practitioner-led view of key retail topics. Our first series topic for 2021 is “Direct to Consumer”, created in partnership with Oracle Retail.
RETAILX STREAM: DIRECT TO CONSUMER IN 2021
August 2021
Streamwith
Survey scope 3
What is Direct-to-Consumer? 4
Figure 01 Which website do you visit the most to shop or browse? 4
E-shoppers in focus 5
Figure 02 How often participants shop online by country 5
Figure 03 How often participants shop online by age 5
Convenience is king 7
Figure 04 Reasons for shopping online 7
Figure 05 Products most frequently purchased online 8
Social networking: does it get the thumbs up from consumers? 9
Figure 06 Why shopping via social media is appealing 9
Figure 07 Most popular social media platforms for e-shopping by country 10
Sustainability 11
Figure 08 Do consumers want retailers to be ecologically sustainable? 11
Post-pandemic changes 12
Figure 09 Reasons for shopping online post-pandemic 12
Figure 10 How often will consumers shop online after coronavirus restrictions are lifted? 13
About Stream 14
CONTENTS
Scarlette Isaac, Digital Editor, reviews the recent consumer research from RetailX for the new Stream: Direct to Consumer series and draws out highlights. The full report will be available here: stream.retailx.net
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• We polled participants across 19 different countries, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Finland, Poland, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Czechia, Slovakia, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Portugal, France and Sweden.
• Across these countries, there are 17 different languages spoken.
• Per country we had around 500-1000 respondents.
• Our research is split by demographic to illustrate key trends and patterns across specific groups.
• Data stratification was deployed by our research team to ensure a rigorous overview and an unparalleled analysis.
SURVEY SCOPE
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When discussing the latest macroeconomic trends in retail, “Direct-to-Consumer” is a buzzword almost certain to crop up. This business model allows brands to build more personal relationships with their customers, control brand messaging and access customer data - all without the interference of a third-party retailer.
D2C has been growing rapidly over the past few years, with research from Brand Index 2021 showing that 20% of those aged 18 to 40 prefer to head directly to a brand’s website than a marketplace or multi-brand retailer.
This growth is illustrated by our latest consumer survey which found that 54% of European consumers visit the brand website directly when shopping online, while 30% said most of their online purchases are made through the brand’s own website.
However, over half (60%) of consumers said they still do most of their online shopping via other retailer websites, suggesting D2C is yet to impress a few!
WHAT IS DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER?
Figure 01 Which website do you visit the most to shop or browse?
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Our research found that 64% of Europeans shop online more than once a month, while 33% shop online between once a day and once a week. Only 4% of consumers surveyed answered that they do not shop online.
E-SHOPPERS IN FOCUS
Figure 02 How often participants shop online by country
Figure 03 How often participants shop online by age
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Denmark has the most significant percentage of people shopping online more than once a day (12%). Still, overall the United Kingdom has a higher percentage of regular online shoppers (more than once a day 10% and more than once a week 43%).
Zooming in on France, the most avid online shoppers appear to be within the younger demographic - with 54% of 18-24 year olds saying they purchase online more than once a day. That said, a further 55% of people from this same age bracket told us they never shop online.
This is a great example of why it is so crucial for retailers to keep a keen eye on consumer data; which does tend to fluctuate and throw us the odd curve ball from time to time!
Learn more at stream.retailx.net
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“Why do you shop online?” is a question that comes into sharp focus when getting to know your consumers. Most of the countries interviewed prioritise convenience over other reasons to buy online. Of course, convenience was one of the primary drivers of ecommerce growth during the pandemic, when many seasoned brick and mortar shoppers were given no choice but to get clicking in order to purchase their essentials.
On the other hand, consumers from Norway, Denmark and Germany believe that price is more important. Choice was also rated quite highly by our European interviewees, particularly those in Austria (27%), Germany (25%) and Finland (25%).
Preferences such as these are definitely important to bear in mind when launching in a new market and (you guessed it) something we’ll be discussing in one of our Stream episodes in relation to building relationships with the consumer.
CONVENIENCE IS KING
Figure 04 Reasons for shopping online
You can see more at stream.retailx.net
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Did you know that 10% of Europeans shop online for fashion apparel or accessories, followed by sports and leisure (6.3%), cosmetics or beauty products (6.2%) and homewares (6.2%)?
Going Direct-to-Consumer means brands can expand their territory and sell to consumers where their products are most in demand, without the hindrance of distribution networks and retail centre.
Check out stream.retailx.net for more information
Figure 05 Products most frequently purchased online
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Next on the research agenda, we wanted to know if the hours of social scrolling are actually paying off (well, for the brands). Surprisingly, we discovered that most European consumers (61%) don’t purchase items through social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. However, for those 39% who do use social media sites as shopping platforms, price was the main selling point (23%), followed by choice (16%) and convenience (16%).
SOCIAL NETWORKING:does it get the thumbs up from consumers?
Figure 06 Why shopping via social media is appealing
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In second place, we have the ‘gram which has definitely been driving ecommerce sales over the last few years - largely thanks to the growing influence of influencers!
Interactive platforms like Instagram also provide the perfect space for Direct-to-Consumer brands to engage with customers, create personalised ads and boost discovery. According to research from the RetailX Luxury Sector Report 2021, luxury brands are very much behind this trend and reaping the benefits of social media; using it as a key tool for expansion.
As you can see from the chart below, Facebook is the most popular choice of social media site when it comes to shopping, particularly in Hungary (61%), Czechia (51%) and Romania (49%).
Figure 07 Most popular social media platforms for e-shopping by country
See Stream.retailx.net for further details
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In the wake of the pandemic, consumers are (very rightly) focusing on the other crisis at hand: the climate crisis. When polling participants, we learned that most people either agree or strongly agree that they want the retailers they buy from to be ecologically sustainable. This was most marked in Portugal (42%), Italy (36%) and France (35%).
ON SUSTAINABILITY
How does this link to D2C? Brands selling Direct-to-Consumer are more easily able to pivot their strategy and make eco-friendly changes where needed - for example, to packaging and delivery options. Transparency of factory conditions, production processes and waste solutions may also be a consideration for the eco-conscious consumer - and guess what? If you’re a D2C brand then you can publish this information without having to go through a third party!
Figure 08 Do consumers want retailers to be ecologically sustainable?
Discover more at stream.retailx.net.
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We couldn’t finish our consumer research without addressing the very obvious elephant in the room: COVID-19.
Figure 09 Reasons for shopping online post-pandemic
POST-PANDEMIC CHANGES
Convenience continues to take the crown, with consumers selecting the luxury of being able to make a purchase at any time as the biggest perk of post-pandemic e-shopping (21.72%).
Variety was the second most popular reason for consumers to continue their ecommerce love affair, with 19.57% of participants agreeing that there is more choice online than on the high street.
Time-saving came in third (18.81%), very closely followed by “the prices applied are more interesting” (18.35%) - take note retailers!
Next, we asked if shoppers would still be interested in shopping online after all restrictions are lifted.
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Just under half (49.31%) of our European shoppers said they would continue shopping online more than once a month after ‘freedom day’, while only a mere 0.41% said they would never shop online again.
Figure 10 How often will consumers shop online after coronavirus restrictions are lifted?
Find out more by visiting stream.retailx.net
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ABOUT STREAMRetailX Stream is a six-part series with Oracle featuring research from RetailX, consumer surveys, and the participation of WatchShop, Liberty London, Revolution Beauty, Selfridges and FitFlop!
Take inspiration from insightful sessions highlighting the latest in Direct-to-Consumer, including; transformative technological advancements, need-to-know trends and winning strategies that will ensure you’re miles ahead of the competition.
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Robin Phillips CEO of The Watch Shop & LuxEcom
Sally Heath Minto Digital Director at Revolution Beauty
Nadine Neatrour Director of Marketing at Selfridges
Rachel Henwood Senior Sales Consulting Director, EMEA at Oracle Retail
FEATURED INDUSTRY EXPERTS:
Martin Francis Global Digital GM at FitFlop
Eric Fergusson Director of Ecommerce at Liberty London
Claudio Cavacini Senior Solution Manager, Global Omnichannel at Oracle
Ian Jindal Editor-in-Chief at RetailX
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Streamwith
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