Royal Mail uses eBay for trends tool data

The Royal Mail Insight Tool will provide access to more than 140 million transactional records from the 240 million eBay registers on an annual basis.

The data will be anonymous, aggregated to postcode level and refreshed on a monthly basis. It will provide information on purchase history, type of products bought and levels of spend.

The postal service claims the initiative offers advertisers, data and media agencies “unparalleled” access to audience demographics to help improve direct marketing, outdoor and regional television campaign planning.

Antony Miller, head of media development at the Royal Mail, claims the information provided is more varied than that offered by other similar transactional data sources, for example the information dunnhumby provides based on Tesco Clubcard purchases.

He adds the initiative marks the latest stage of Royal Mail’s “evolution into a true media owner”. The organisation launched the Mail Media Centre, which provides news, research and case studies to advertisers and agencies in February 2009.

A marketing campaign will support the launch of the initiative. Advertisements will feature consumers talking about their purchases and purchase intentions. One execution will read: “I bought this surf board and then some surf wax, so I guess I will need…”