Consumer confidence, email, retail sales: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Consumers pessimistic about UK’s economic outlook

UK consumers are more pessimistic than optimistic about the country’s economic recovery in the long-term after the Covid-19 outbreak.

Some 16% are defined as ‘optimistic’ – believing the economy will rebound within two or three months and grow as strongly or stronger than before the outbrak. Almost half (49%) are defined as ‘unsure’, meaning they believe the economy will impacted for six to 12 months and stagnate or show slow growth thereafter.

A further 34% are ‘pessimistic’, believing that Covid-19 will have a lasting impact on the economy and could lead to a length recession.

Around 70% of consumers believe their routines will be impacted by more than two months, with 35% seeing a reduction in household incomes and 41% a reduction in household spending. Some 35% agree that uncertainty about the economy is preventing them from making purchases, with 51% saying they have to be “very careful” about how they spend.

Source: McKinsey

Consumers want to hear from brands despite coronavirus outbreak

Consumers want to hear from brands even if they operate in a category that may not seem so relevant during the coronavirus outbreak.

Some 33% want to hear more from healthcare and pharma brands, 30% from supermarkets and 28% from food and drink brands. However, 34% of consumers said they want to hear less from gym and fitness brands, 39% from fashion and beauty brands, and 31% from automotive.

Consumers also have a positive perception of sectors such as supermarkets and healthcare that have been vocal about their response. While automotive (27%), fashion and beauty (26%), gym and fitness (17%), financial services (15%) and charities (14%) are perceived as not having done anything in response.

When communicating, consumers want to hear from employees on the front line (38%), the CEO/founder (31%), third-party experts (15%), influencers (5%) and celebrities (5%).

Some 70% of consumers are looking for ways to keep some normality in their lie, while 59% say they miss having conversations that don’t involve the pandemic.

Source: Opinium

Consumers more trusting of TV than digital ads

Two times more consumers says TV ads provide a positive impression of brands than common digital formats.

More than a third of consumers (37%) feel digital ads are too intrusive.

Some six in 10 consumers say they are less inclined to use a product if their data is used for any purpose, while 56% want more control over their data.

Source: GroupM

Consumers and marketers at odds over effectiveness of email campaigns

Consumers and marketers all too often have different views over the effectiveness of different email campaigns.

Some 49% of marketers believe discounts and offers are effective, compared to 65% of consumers, while just 31% of marketers think email receipts are useful compared to 59% of consumers.

Only among advice, information or tutorial emails do marketers’ views come ahead of consumers’, with 45% of marketers liking them compared to 34% of consumers.

Source: DMA

Retail sales set to plunge in 2020

The UK retail industry is predicted to lose £12.6bn in revenues this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. That means the industry will see revenues decline by 1.7% year on year in 2020 to £333.7bn, down from a previous forecast of 2% growth.

Clothing and footwear brands are expected to be worst hit, with sales down 20.6%, compared to a previous forecast of 0.6% growth.

By comparison, grocery will see “unprecedented” growth, with revenue up 7.1% in 2020. Previously, it was forecast the market would grow by 1.2%.

Source: GlobalData