Retailers feel there are too many channels to effectively sell through

A TV remote control.

Online shopping has never been more convenient for consumers, who have access to a plethora of channels through which to engage with their favourite brands.

However, this same variety is confounding retailers, with 47% saying there are simply too many channels for them to effectively deliver the best sales experience.

This is according to Wunderman Thompson Commerce & Technology’s “Brands don’t fail... eRetail!” report, which found nearly all (94%) retail...

19 April 2023 | Content Marketing

How Playrcart helped Vodafone achieve above average click-through-rates

A Vodafone shop.

The client:

Vodafone Group is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania.

As of January 2023, it owns and operates networks in 21 countries, with partner networks in 47 further countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to...

17 April 2023 | Advertising

8 out of 10 firms investing in customer engagement meet financial goals

Four £20 notes.

Research from customer engagement platform Twilio, has found that investment in customer engagement is a key driver of revenue growth.

Twilio’s fourth annual State of Customer Engagement Report reveals that, amid constrained resources and economic uncertainty, eight out of 10 (81%) companies that invested in customer engagement met their financial goals. In the UK, 94% of companies that invested in digital customer engagement saw revenues grow, with an average increase of...

3 April 2023 | Customer Experience

UK shoppers abandon retailers that charge for returns

More than a quarter (26%) of Brits have switched from a brand they were once loyal to due to the introduction of paid returns, according to the latest research from SAP Emarsys.

The study, released ahead of the Shoptalk retail tradeshow, reveals that 18% of UK consumers actively describe the introduction of returns charges as “unfair”; 13% have even thrown away an unwanted item after failing to return it.

With almost half (49%) of shoppers abandoned a brand they were...

30 March 2023 | Big Data

Braze native WhatsApp messaging helps build customer relationships

Someone using WhatsApp on their phone.

Braze, a customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands, has made native support for messaging channel WhatsApp generally available.

Through this direct integration with WhatsApp, which had more than two billion active users as of 2022, marketers will be able to create, orchestrate, and send WhatsApp campaigns directly from the Braze platform to strengthen customer relationships with context-rich conversational messaging that can drive...

21 March 2023 | Customer Experience

Businesses are losing customers due to disjointed digitisation

Digitisation efforts begun in the pandemic must now be reconciled in light of today’s customer needs, according to the findings of research released by customer engagement platform Twilio.

The study has uncovered how businesses’ digital acceleration in 2020 has led to a wealth of channels that now need to be consolidated into nuanced, personalised customer engagement strategies in response to today’s consumer needs. With customer retention a crucial metric amid economic...

20 March 2023 | Best Practice

HubSpot CRM introduces AI-powered tools to boost productivity

HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, today announced the launch of two new tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) - content assistant and ChatSpot.ai - to help its customers save time while creating better connections with their audiences.

The introduction of content assistant and ChatSpot.ai builds on HubSpot’s earlier investments in AI including conversation intelligence, data quality tooling, data...

8 March 2023 | Content Marketing

74% of marketers embrace simplification and sustainability

Clevertouch Marketing, a martech consulting and service provider, has revealed the results of its latest annual State of Martech research, the only dedicated study into the martech industry.

In partnership with the University of Southampton Business School, a world top 100 university (QS World University Rankings 2022), Clevertouch surveyed more than 650 senior marketers across the UK, EMEA and USA to create a picture of the current state of the martech landscape.

Key...

7 March 2023 | CMO

Most UK consumers will pay more to guarantee a great digital experience

Despite the cost-of-living crisis, over half of UK consumers (59%) would be willing to pay more for a product of service if it guaranteed a positive digital experience.

That is according to new research from FullStory, the leader in Digital Experience Intelligence (DXI).

The research examines the link between digital experiences (DX) and profitability, incorporating data from over 7,000 consumers across multiple industries in the UK, USA, Germany, The Netherlands,...

1 March 2023 | Customer Experience

75% of marketers feel senior leadership does not value customer marketing

Someone at a desk working on design and marketing.

Three quarters (75%) of senior marketing professionals working in UK-based B2C brands do not believe senior leadership truly values the role of customer marketing to the wider business.

The findings from a study conducted by first-party data agency Planning-inc indicate that marketers are being hindered by inoperable customer data, insufficient analyst resource and a lack of customer insight, diminishing the impact of their programs.

The research identified that...

21 February 2023 | CMO