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It’s no secret that it has been a trying year for the UK high street. Over the last 12 months, several household retailers have felt the effect of reduced footfall, causing them to cut down on their store portfolios.

However, new purchase data suggest that capitalising on their customers’ online behaviour may just prove to be the saving grace retailers are looking for.

Cardlytics’ most recent Spend Index shows that online spending among traditional high street retailers has outpaced their overall growth by three times.

High street bookshops and pet shops are good examples of those finding effective ways to capture online traffic. In January 2018 alone, established high street book stores experienced a year-on-year online growth of 66% against a 3% decline for in-store sales. And, pet shops experienced an increase of 27%, helping to drive increased in-store spending. Overall, spending in bookshops increased by almost a quarter, while pet shops rocketed by a third.

Sales at pure-play online fashion retailers grew by 12% year-on-year, a rate growth four times higher than traditional high street fashion retailers’ online brands. This is a warning sign for an industry that has historically relied heavily on brick-and-mortar spend.

So, what can retailers take away from the latest figures?

As the data shows, there’s an opportunity in the slowdown, specifically in using online channels effectively.

For retailers looking to lift their sales, here are some digital strategies for capturing online traffic to boost bricks and mortar:

• Make your online channels work harder by promoting seasonal online shipping deals or offering return rewards;
• Use online to bring customers into stores by offering free store collection alongside discounts on most popular items;
• Target likely buyers based on actual spend and location across web, mobile and digital, so you know your marketing efforts are getting in front of most relevant audience.
• Reach buyers when and where they’re already thinking about money, with rewards offers within their bank channels that are easy to gather and redeem.

To keep up with the changing UK retail landscape, the rapid rise of online-only players, and evolving consumer behaviour, retailers must work harder to engender loyalty. Cardlytics Direct allows brands to reach likely buyers with ads they want to see. Read more about Cardlytics Direct here.

If this year’s Ad Exchanger Industry Preview is any indication, 2018 will be a watershed year for digital advertising. Throughout the conference, speakers highlighted the need to move away from business as usual and start applying innovations that were only theories in previous years.Here are the top three takeaways from the event:Personalized marketing performs better. Call it “personal marketing,” “experience marketing,” or “intelligent marketing,” in 2018 marketers will be re-focusing their attention on directly engaging individual customers through meaningful experiences. A recent Salesforce study supports this shift - it showed that 61% of consumers were more likely to buy from companies delivering custom content. Case in point: Johnson & Johnson’s CMO said they see 2-3X return for personal marketing vs. a mass spray and pray approach. Our own native channel, which delivers ads targeted to likely buyers based on past purchase behavior, averages a 7% click through rate vs. the industry standard 0.8%. (Click here to learn more about Cardlytics’ native bank channel advertising). Trust remains an issue. Fraud, questionable data sources and unexplained fees continue to plague the industry. According to a CMO Council study, 72% of marketers surveyed said they had concerns about safety and controls with their digital ad placements. Also troubling, panelists pointed out that mobile fraud could be a big problem in 2018 since it is almost impossible to detect. Thankfully, our bank partnerships give Cardlytics a trusted source of data with clear permissions. Our own ad channel is fraud-free (even in mobile!).The industry will set new standards to measure performance. Both marketers and publishers have a stake in showing how ad campaigns impact real-world sales. Publishers discussed how they want more sustainable ad standards: fewer ads that they hope will be relevant to consumers and boost performance. But, as you can imagine, fewer ads and better performance will likely come with a price premium which they’ll have to justify. At the same time, panelists discussed how outdated proxies and inconsistent analytics are particularly problematic for marketers under pressure to demonstrate how spend improves their bottom line. If we stick with outdated metrics like CTR and online conversions, we’re missing most of digital’s impact (and opportunity). Remember, 92% of sales still take place at brick and mortar locations. Cardlytics Measurement connects the dots between digital media and actual sales – both online and in-store. Marketers and publishers can use our unbiased reports to prove the real value of their ad campaigns.Contact us to learn more if you’re interested in working with Cardlytics to reach likely buyers within our own native bank channel, or to measure the success of your digital campaigns.

With flowers blooming, birds chirping, and the northeast finally digging their way out of the snow, spring is widely considered a time for new life. And, that feeling often translates into new shopping behaviors. From trying different grocery stores, to buying new clothes and changing up house décor, spring is a great time for marketers to reach new shoppers as they change their habits.

Capturing spring shoppers gives marketers an opportunity to acquire new consumers before the back-to-school season, the second largest shopping event for brands, begins. By analyzing $1.5T in actual consumer purchases, we saw back-to-school spend grow 2.93% from 2016. Major shopping events, like Prime Day, have pulled back-to-school spend forward by a good month. As a result, it’s increasingly critical for marketers to start building brand loyalty early in the year so they can capture the most spend during the back-to-school season.

Some essential tips for marketers who want to capture spring shoppers:

• Target likely buyers based on actual spend, so you know your marketing efforts are getting in front of consumers most likely to spend with you
• Make it easy for consumers to shop by offering online shipping deals for the spring, or free ship-to-store on spring clothes or new cleaning products
• Offer return rewards, like discounts for return visits during late summer, AKA back-to-school season

Strengthening loyalty during the spring months is critical to getting foot traffic for upcoming shopping events – namely, back-to-school and holiday. Be sure to check out our new back-to-school report, publishing in June, for more purchase insights and tips on capturing back-to-school shoppers.

Tracking the level of consumer spending has become an important health check on the UK economy. All eyes are on how the surge in inflation and other economic factors are impacting the wallets and, in turn, growth.

Lately, five-year high inflation combined with lagging wage growth has consumers feeling the pinch.

Our latest UK Spend Index, which tracked the spend of nearly four million people across Q3, echoes that sentiment.

While spending grew 3% annually, this was set against the 6% year-on-year increase seen in the previous quarter. Growth is clearly slowing.

There are signs of positivity elsewhere, though.

While spending growth may be slowing, our data suggests that consumers are merely becoming more selective.

Indeed, spending in ‘experience’ sectors such as dining and travel remained intact.

In particular, spend on quick-service restaurants grew 5% since the previous quarter, and saw a 21% year-on-year increase.

Moreover, Britain has truly become a nation of food lovers: spending on eating out has taken a firmer foothold in people’s wallets than ever before, with the share of spend for restaurants overall increasing the most since we started tracking consumer spend.

We are also seeing signs of strength when it comes to airlines (+9%), hotels (+6%) and travel (+6%).

It is clear that consumers are willing to spend in categories that can create shareable, memorable experiences. As we move into the holiday season this data suggests that travel gifts may be prevalent this year.

Ahead of the holiday shopping season, this is an important trend for brands to consider as they develop their marketing strategies.

For many brands, Black Friday is seen as a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, it’s another big moment in the retail calendar for shoppers. On the other, it’s another time when jaw-dropping discounts are king and competition is fierce.

Either way, it’s become an increasingly established part of the UK retail calendar since it first came to prominence in 2010. Arriving just as online retail was about to explode in the UK, its timing was perfect.

However, sentiment may be changing.

While Black Friday week was last year the busiest shopping week of the festive season, there were clear signs of fatigue.

Indeed, it was the only festive week in 2016 during which key categories experienced a spending dip. In contrast, we saw more and more spend towards last-minute and post-Christmas purchases.

Yet, despite that blip, the week in which Black Friday fell last year was still the busiest shopping week of the festive season.

The retail, grocery and fashion sectors all saw increases during Black Friday on the prior weeks. But the biggest winners were the airline, restaurants and travel sectors, giving a clear indication that people might be moving away from traditional product gifts to experience-based surprises (see Table 1).

While the approach to Black Friday varies among brands, our analysis shows that the key is to view the festive shopping season as a whole.

Indeed we identified four clear shopper periods for the wider holiday season: Early Birds, Black Friday Warriors, Last-Minute Shoppers and Post-Christmas Shoppers (see Table 2).

There are nuances to each group. We saw a huge increase in spend among Last-Minute Shoppers last year. Perhaps we’re becoming increasingly poorly organised or, more likely, ore trusting of online delivery. Either way, this is clearly a growing consumer group. There are quirks that need to be understood about the others, too.

The brands which truly win Black Friday will be the ones which build plans across the whole festive season, identifying the consumer groups in which they resonate and understanding how to reach them.

When viewed as part of a wider festive plan, the prospect of Black Friday might start to become a little less gloomy.

At Cardlytics, it’s not uncommon for us to win awards for the work we do. Just over the past few years, we’ve:

• Ranked on the Inc. 5000 three times, a list of the nation’s fastest-growing companies.

• Ranked on the Deloitte Tech Fast 500™ three times, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America.

• Ranked #5 on Entrepreneur’s, Entrepreneur 360, a ranking of the 360 best entrepreneurial companies in America.

• Named by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a Best Places to Work

This year, on the Inc. 5000, we were ranked no. 1 among Georgia-based advertising and marketing companies with revenue greater than $100 million. We also ranked the fourth fastest growing company among all advertising and marketing companies in the United States with revenue greater than $100 million. On the Deloitte Tech Fast 500, we ranked 245 in North America and no. 9 in Georgia.Every award, every win, reminds me of why Lynne and I started this company: to help financial institutions and marketers solve real business problems. Every time Cardlytics’ success is recognized, I am humbled and inspired by the smart, forward-thinking people that have helped shape this company into what it is today.Today, not only do we partner with top financial institutions for their loyalty programs, and see $1.5 trillion in spend, but we also work with:

• 20 of the top 25 Nation’s Restaurant News Top U.S. Restaurant Chains.

• 23 of the top 50 National Retail Federation’s Top U.S. Retailers.

• 3 of the top 5 cable & satellite T.V. providers, by U.S. subscriber counts.

• 3 of the top 4 wireless carriers, by U.S. subscriber counts.

In short, everyone’s hard work drives our business – and other businesses – forward. We should be proud of we continue to achieve together.Congratulations Cardlytians!

The holiday season is the biggest consumer spending event of the year, making it a critical time for retailers to boost their annual bottom line. While Black Friday used to be the primary marketing event for capturing holiday spend, when and where consumers spend for the holidays is changing. To ensure their cash registers stay ringing all season long, retailers need to align their marketing efforts with evolving buying behaviors.

The good news is that holiday spend is on the rise. Cardlytics recently analyzed year-over-year holiday spend from 2015 to 2016. Holiday sales increased by 1.9%. This is a nice change from 2014 to 2015, where spend had decreased. But, as you can imagine, this increase in spend is not equally spread across every channel throughout the holiday season.

Online is growing, but brick & mortar captures the majority of spend

It’s easy to imagine that most of holiday retail spend comes from online channels. However, in 2016, we saw that online-only retailers accounted for only 10% of holiday spend. While small, this percentage is growing year over year. Online brick & mortar (the online channel for retailers with a physical store) accounted for 8% of spend. And, while in-store spend is declining year over year, it still made up 82% of holiday spend in 2016. Because of this, engaging audiences across channels, both online and in-store, is imperative for a successful holiday season.

Online-only retailers and online brick & mortars should offer early and late shipping deals that are shareable via email or social to capture the increased online spend. Making the deals shareable allows retailers to reach consumers not on their mailing lists. Online brick & mortar stores should consider free ship-to-store deals, which encourages online shopping, but also gets foot traffic in the store. And, brick & mortars without an online presence should consider online marketing campaigns, like cash-back deals that reach consumers in their online and mobile banking accounts while they’re already thinking about spending and saving money.

Black Friday is losing relevance

But, which shopping channel consumers are opting for isn’t the only thing marketers should understand when building their holiday marketing campaigns. When consumers are shopping is critical, too. As retailers are offering earlier November deals and consumers are increasing their confidence in last-minute holiday shipping, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are continuing to decline in importance. A whopping ~ 40% of spend occurs in the first 4 weeks before Black Friday. And, 14% of total holiday sales occur the week before Christmas. To generate the greatest holiday revenue, marketers should not center marketing around Black Friday only. Targeted, well-timed campaigns will enable retailers to capture spend throughout the season.

Consumers are choosing alternative categories

As big box/general merchandise retailers offer more children’s clothes and toy gifts, we’ve seen traditional retailers, like department stores, experience a decline in holiday spend, and less traditional retailers, like pet stores, experience an increase. In 2016, we saw big box/general merchandise store spend increase by 5% and pet store spend increase by 4%. Both children’s toys & apparel and department stores saw a decrease in spend of 7%, respectively. Retailers who execute multi-pronged marketing campaigns that highlight specific gifts and gift variety will be more likely to capture consumers with specific gift needs.

With holiday spending on the rise, retailers have an opportunity to capture more spend than last year. But, that also means retailers will be competing harder to get their share of the increased spend. Aligning holiday marketing campaigns with the purchase behaviors of holiday shoppers will be imperative for retailers who want to increase their bottom line this season.

At one point in time, consumers relegated most of their holiday shopping to Black Friday. Every year, holiday shoppers would line up in droves for those coveted Black Friday deals. But, in Cardlytics' holiday purchase analytics, we see that Black Friday is losing relevance. In 2016, there were 15% fewer Black Friday shoppers than the previous year.

But, retailers need not fret. From our purchase intelligence, we see that there are four distinct shopper timing segments that contribute to overall holiday spend. And, for the most profitable holiday season, retailers must market to each one.

Steady Shoppers

Instead of one big shopping event, Steady Shoppers prefer to distribute their holiday spend throughout the season. This shopper segment will likely buy from several retailers, online and in-store, picking out gifts as they come across them. Steady Shoppers accounted for the majority of spend, 46%, in 2016, and that spend is growing year over year. In 2015, Steady Shoppers accounted for 44% of spend.

How to engage Steady Shoppers: To keep Steady Shoppers engaged throughout the season, offer them cash-back deals for return trips. A multi-pronged marketing campaign, for online and offline channels, is also key. Whether on their computer, in their mobile banking app, or walking past a store, this segment purchases gifts as the mood strikes. Retailers who keep their brand top of mind will win this shopper segment’s spend.

Early Birds

Early Bird Shoppers aim for efficiency, getting their shopping done early and usually at fewer stores. While Early Birds made up only 10% of holiday spend last year, it’s still imperative retailers reach this segment to capture the initial holiday spend that is critical to reaching overall holiday sales goals.

How to engage Early Birds: Retailers that want to reach Early Birds should cater to this segment’s “power shopping” behavior. Marketing campaigns should emphasize gift variety, indicating that shopping can be done quickly and efficiently with their brand.

Black Friday Shoppers

While Black Friday Shoppers are declining year over year, these shoppers still accounted for 16% of spend in 2016. In addition to standing in line for in-store sales, this segment also likes to get their holiday deals online. We see that this segment’s spend with online brick & mortars (the online channel for retailers with a physical store) increased by 3% from 2015 to 2016. Within the same time frame, Black Friday Shoppers’ spend at online-only retailers increased 7%.

How to engage Black Friday Shoppers: Black Friday Shoppers want to get the best price for the best product. They also like to feel like they’re getting deals other shoppers aren’t. Retailers can engage this shopper segment with “secret” deals, like deeper discounts for email subscribers. For an added bonus, making the deals shareable, e.g. friends and family discounts, enables retailers to reach shoppers who are not on the mailing list.

Last-Minute Shoppers

With spend growing 8% year over year, the fastest growing shopper segment is the Last-Minute Shoppers. This segment accounted for 28% of all holiday spend last year. Unsurprisingly, Last-Minute Shoppers really like to get their gifts online. This segment’s spend with online brick & mortars and online-only retailers increased by 4% and 12%, respectively, from 2015 to 2016.

How to engage Last-Minute Shoppers: Pressed for time, Last-Minute Shoppers are more likely to buy from retailers that make it easy for them to purchase their gifts, fast. Brick & mortars should emphasize extended store hours, as well as expedited online-to-in-store pick up. Online-only retailers should highlight expedited shipping discounts and late shipping guarantees in their marketing campaigns.

Each shopper segment contributes to the overall holiday spend. It’s critical for retailers to execute marketing campaigns that uniquely target each shopper timing segment to generate revenue all season long.

A battle for share of stomach among big chain restaurants has been going on since the dawn of restaurant dining. But, over recent years, the battle has shifted with chain restaurants needing to compete more heavily with independent restaurants vs. other big chains.

We recently wrote an article for Nation’s Restaurant News, “Independent vs. Chain Restaurants: The Battle for Share of Stomach,” discussing how restaurant diners are shifting their dining out spend. We’re seeing that during key spend seasons, diners are opting for local.

• During the 2016 holiday shopping season, indepen­dent restaurant trips grew 8.3 percent year-over-year, while national chains witnessed a 2.4 percent year-over-year decline.
• Early 2017 summer restaurant traffic shows year-over-year trip growth of 8.1% for independents and 1.6% for national chains.

Across the country, we’re seeing that hyper-local and regional brands are quickly gaining steam, either matching the amount of spend at chains or surpassing. And, this trend is replicated across restaurant categories. From June 2016 – July 2017, we saw consumers spending heavily at independents restaurants in key categories, including: casual dining, pizza, and seafood.

That’s not to say that chains aren’t still seeing considerable spend/winning in some categories. We see that, in that same time period, when it came to American cuisine, consumers still opted for chains with independent restaurant spend only accounting for about 1% of the pie.

As you can see, independent spend is taking up a very large slice of the pie. And, these consumers are spending a nice chunk of change on each visit, too. The average check for consumers that spend with independent seafood restaurants is $43.52, with the average casual dining and pizza tickets hovering around $25. In the sandwich category, consumers spend an average of $12.37 with chain restaurants, but an average of $16.23 with independent sandwich shops.

Check out the full article in July 24 edition of NRN to see what may be causing this shift to local, available now.

Are you a restaurant interested in capturing more share of stomach? Contact us, here.