Ad blocking, card payments, GDPR compliance: 5 killer stats to start your week

We arm you with all the numbers marketers need ahead of the coming week including the fact that card payments continue to rise and retail parks have salvaged summer footfall.

1. Three-quarters of consumers don’t recall seeing ads

Three-quarters (76%) of consumers who have been exposed to digital ads do not recall seeing them, but unaided brand awareness still rises by 10.2%, showing the passive impact ads can have. This same group’s purchase intent also rises by 1.6%, while ‘top of the mind awareness’ increases by 5.9% and brand consideration by 2.3%.

However, the awareness metrics for consumers who actively recall ads is three times higher (30%) than for passive consumers. Brand consideration is also six times higher and purchase intent is 17 times greater.

Source: On Device Research

2. Ad blocking in the UK begins to stabilise

This year, 12.2 million people in the UK will block ads on a desktop computer, laptop or smartphone, the equivalent of 22% of the internet-using population, which is up from 20.8% last year. This is expected to rise to 22.9% in 2019.

Use of ad blocking software is lower in the UK compared to other Western countries, with 28.7% in France, 32% in Germany and 25.2% in the US.

Ad blocking rates are highest among younger internet users with 43% of all 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK predicted to use an ad blocker this year, compared with less than 21% for those aged 45 and over.

Source: eMarketer

3. Card payments account for three-quarters of UK retail sales

Card payments now account for three-quarters (75%) of all retail sales in the UK, which is partly driven by British consumers increasingly using cards for smaller payments.

Cash use fell by more than 1% and now accounts for just 22% of all retail sales.

Retailers spent an additional £170m to process card payments in 2017, reaching almost £1bn for the year. Increasing costs have been driven entirely by card scheme fees, which jumped by 39% in 2017.

Source: BRC

4. Retail parks salvage summer footfall

Overall, retail footfall fell by 1.6% during August compared to the previous year, with fewer people out shopping as food inflation continues to rise leaving people with less money for non-essential purchases.

The high street in particular saw a 2% decline, marking the end of three consecutive months of growth.

Northern Ireland was the only region to experience growth at 1.4%. Meanwhile, declines deepened in the East, South West and East Midlands to 5% (from 1% in July), 3.8% (from 2.1% in July) and 3.7% (from 0.5% in July), respectively.

However, retail parks performed strongly in August, with the East and South West demonstrating the fastest growth of 5.1% and 4%.

Footfall in shopping centres fell by 2.4% in August.

Source: BRC

5. Marketing leaders embrace GDPR as path to trust and improved experiences

While most marketing leaders see GDPR as an opportunity to secure trust, loyalty and experience, laggards assume it is someone else’s problem. In fact, 39% of this group do not feel GDPR applies to them.

Among those deemed leaders, 55% have already initiated some form of data audit to fully understand how customer data is stored and collected. While, more than a third (37%) of leaders are planning to upgrade capabilities across all data management solutions.

When asked who is in charge of GDPR compliance at their organisation, 33% say it’s the responsibility of a cross-functional task force, while 27% say it’s the remit of the chief information officer, followed by CMO (17%), CEO (17%), chief operating officer (10%), chief financial officer (8%) and chief design officer (4%).

Source: CMO Council

 

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