One in three British consumers will pay more for ‘connected’ experiences
Almost one in three (29%) British consumers say they are willing to pay more for brands that offer connected experiences, such as QR codes, visual search, augmented reality and near-field communication (NFC) tags.
According to research from Merkle, 84% of the population has engaged with at least one of these technologies in the past month, with 32% having engaged with them four or more times.
These technologies can help brands bridge the gap between their physical and digital experiences. Indeed, the data shows many consumers are interacting with brands’ digital experience in retail environments. In the last 30 days, around one in three consumers have engaged with connected technologies while shopping in-person, both in supermarkets (36%) and other retail shops (35%).
Connecting the physical and the digital can have clear benefits for brands, with over a third (37%) of consumers stating they are more likely to buy a product connected to a digital experience.
However, brands must offer clear incentives for consumers to engage with connected experiences initially. Almost two in five (39%) consumers say a lack of tangible benefits with a connected experience would stop them from engaging with it altogether.
Source: Merkle
Supermarket sales up nearly 10% in the run-up to Easter
A late Easter boosted UK supermarket sales towards the end of last month, with total till sales up 9.6% year-over-year in the four weeks to 19 April. This was significantly up from the 2.7% growth recorded in March.
Many shoppers opted to take part in seasonal discounts and deals, with the share of spend made under promotion growing from 22.9% last month to 24.2% leading up to Easter. This takes promotions back to the same level as Easter 2019 and Christmas 2024. Around two-thirds (65%) of British shoppers say they are likely or very likely to buy extra groceries when they see a particularly good promotion.
Sunnier weather boosted in-store grocery sales, which were up 9.4% versus online sales, which grew 6.3% over the last four weeks. Online’s share of the FMCG market dropped to 12.3%, compared to 12.7% a year ago.
The strongest category performers over the four-week period were confectionery, snacks and soft drinks (up 19.3%) as well as general merchandise (up 11.7%) and fresh foods (up 11.6%), helped by the start of spring and a shift towards al fresco activities and Easter dining.
Source: NIQ
Most young consumers have bought via social media in the last three months
More than half of Gen Z (53%) and millennial (56%) consumers have made a purchase via a social media platform in the past three months, according to research from Emplifi.
The research digs into different generational attitudes around interacting with brands online. It finds that while over half of the millennial and Gen Z demographic purchased social media recently, that figure was significantly lower among Gen X (39%) and baby boomer (29%) shoppers.
The report indicates brands may need to take different approaches in reaching different generations, as around two in five Gen Z (42%) and millennial (39%) shoppers are influenced by the appearance of a post when deciding to make a purchase, while only 29% of baby boomers feel the same.
The vast majority of baby boomers (81%) and Gen X (80%) consumers expect a human to respond to their customer service inquiries instead of a bot. With over half (54%) of baby boomers still considering phone calls a viable form of customer service outreach, while 30% of Gen Z and millennials are more likely to engage with a brand via a direct message on the brand’s social account.
Source: Emplifi
UK ad spend surpasses £40bn for first time
The UK advertising market grew by 10.4% in 2024, exceeding the £40bn mark for the first time to reach a total of £42.6bn, according to new data from the Advertising Association (AA) and Warc.
Growth was largely driven by online display (15.1%) and search (12.8%) formats, which when combined, accounted for nearly 80% of total UK ad spend in 2024.
Spend in search, including retail media platforms, accounted for two in five pounds spent on advertising in the UK last year, reaching a total of £16.9bn. Meanwhile, social media accounted for 53% of overall online display.
Out of home (OOH) (7.7%), radio (3.2%) and direct mail (0.8%) also all saw growth in spend.
Total TV spend grew by 3.8% to a total of £5.3bn last year. To align with increasing ad-supported viewing, the category has now been redefined to include more video services.
Previously, only broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) was included within the VOD component of TV, but it has now been expanded to include ad-supported subscription video on demand (SVOD) such as Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video, advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST).
Source: Advertising Association and WARC
Video advertising spend up 20% in 2024
The UK’s digital ad market grew 13% last year to £35.5bn. Brands invested in video display advertising at a greater rate, with video spend up 20% to £8.3bn, according to IAB UK’s latest Digital Adspend report.
It means 64% of all online display advertising was for video, across social channels, publishers, outstream, ad-based video on demand (AVOD) and broadcast video on demand (BVOD), up from 51% five years ago. Overall, video accounted for 23% of spend.
However, search remains on top. Almost half (47%) of all digital ad spend in 2024 focused on search, representing a 13% year-on-year increase to £16.6bn.
Retail media continues to grow, with investment up 23% to £1.4bn last year, giving it a 4% market share. Meanwhile, the gaming ad market grew by 9% to £1.1bn.
Source: IAB and Mediasense
