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Online grows, but in-store/online balance is key in economic downturn says new research from location intelligence experts Pitney Bowes MapInfo

Windsor – 28 November 2008: Over the difficult economic climate of the next twelve months, 79% of Britons are going to reduce their spending, most dramatically in the areas of fashion, restaurants, music/DVDs, home furnishings and travel, according to new research into retail trends by Pitney Bowes MapInfo.  Gardening, books and DIY are pursuits likely to be least affected by the tough economic conditions.

The new research also shows that spending is not necessarily moving online.  While 47% of UK adults perform over a tenth of their spending online, and 63% intend to increase their online spending next year, half (53%) of respondents say that they would always favour a local store over online purchasing if that store was conveniently situated for them.

I buy over 10% of my purchases over the InternetThis Pitney Bowes MapInfo study, which interviewed 14,000 consumers in seven European countries/regions, highlights the need for retailers to balance their resources between online and in-store activity so as to optimise the channel choice that their particular customers require.

Steve Deaville, Sales Director, Retail, Insurance and Banking, Pitney Bowes MapInfo, notes, “Retailers have always paid great attention to their store locations, but they are also concerned that sales may be inexorably flooding online.  In fact, even in Britain - one of the most developed online markets - online transactions only represent around 7% of retail sale.  Nevertheless, online shopping continues to grow every year, and so for retailers to understand their customers’ use of in-store and online is critical to optimising their channels to the customer.

“Retailers are even more focused on this optimisation during an economic downturn, for example looking for opportunities to rationalise store portfolios without damaging competitive position or haemorrhaging customers.  Those ahead of the game are using sophisticated location intelligence tools and customer communications techniques to achieve this goal.

“UK retailers are evidently going to suffer a severe softening of spending – not just in products traditionally regarded as discretionary spending, but also in the food sector, with 18% of consumers indicating a reduction in grocery spending.  In terms of overall spending downturn, Britain sits in the middle – not as sanguine as Germany, Scandinavia and Benelux, but not nearly as depressed an outlook as France, Spain and Italy.

“These are challenging times for the retail sectors.  However, simply reducing marketing activity is not the way to successfully ride out the current storm.  Many iconic firms have proven that marketing and channel investment in a recession helps the company emerge ahead of its competition when recovery begins.  Efforts today to improve customer understanding, to analyse their usage of different channels, and to introduce more intelligently personalised customer communications, will repay that investment many times over when the economic cycle turns positive.”

A full copy of the management summary of the research report: Who, How, When, Where? from Pitney Bowes MapInfo, may be obtained by emailing: [email protected]


On which of the following products/sectors will you be spending less in the next twelve months?
            All Countries   Great Britain   France      Netherlands   Germany   Sweden   Spain   Italy
Jewellery            48.8%      45.5%      55.9%      34.0%      42.5%   40.4%   59.4%   64.2%
Restaurants         46.8%      51.1%      51.4%      34.7%      41.0%   38.9%   52.9%   57.2%
Fashion            46.6%      57.1%      50.4%      29.0%      31.8%   28.9%   58.8%   70.0%
Music/DVD         46.6%      50.6%      54.0%      31.1%      37.6%   40.8%   55.5%   56.6%
Hotels            43.5%      42.9%      49.3%      32.9%      40.3%   37.1%   52.3%   49.8%
Travel            43.3%      46.6%      49.2%      30.9%      38.8%   31.4%    53.5%   52.6%
Home furnishings         41.9%      48.7%      45.0%      29.8%      38.3%   32.3%   50.1%   49.1%
Leisure clubs         41.7%      43.2%      46.7%      23.2%      39.0%    32.7%   52.5%   54.4%
Cinema            39.8%      43.2%      43.2%      29.8%      34.6%   31.3%   47.3%   49.4%
Electronics         39.3%      46.5%      42.0%      29.9%      33.2%   36.1%   46.5%   40.8%
Holidays            39.0%      45.0%      42.0%      27.8%      35.0%   26.7%   50.0%   46.5%
Fast food            37.7%      43.6%      46.4%      26.3%      34.1%   40.6%   37.4%   35.5%
Magazines         34.4%      36.9%      39.3%      27.6%      30.2%   33.9%   38.3%   34.4%
Electrical goods         34.1%      44.2%      36.8%      26.8%      29.1%   32.0%   38.1%   31.8%
Mobile phone         33.9%      34.1%      40.2%      24.7%      33.8%   23.6%   37.8%   43.0%
Cosmetics & beauty products   32.7%      38.5%      39.4%      19.5%      25.7%   27.6%   34.7%   43.6%
Hairdressing         26.5%      29.3%      29.8%      14.6%      25.6%   22.2%   27.4%   36.8%
DIY            24.4%      28.6%      23.2%      12.7%      21.0%   19.2%   32.7%   33.2%
Gardening         24.1%      22.1%      25.8%      15.7%      22.8%   18.4%   34.9%   29.3%
Books            23.3%      28.0%      27.9%      20.8%      18.3%   22.2%   23.4%   22.7%
Food            17.8%      33.2%      22.5%      5.7%      15.8%   8.2%   18.5%   20.8%
 
None of these         22.2%      20.8%      14.7%      40.1%      32.6%   28.4%   12.0%   6.8%