Retailers and consumers at odds over success of marketing activity

The report found that 69 per cent of retailers would describe their marketing activity as successful. A similar number believe it stimulates customers to purchase.

However, when asked if marketing material made them more likely to use a retailer, just 37 per cent of consumers agreed, with the rest thinking it has either no effect or a detrimental effect on their view of brands.

The report, which is based on surveys of 2,190 UK consumers and 100 retailers, suggests more needs to be done to make sure retailers are sending people relevant marketing messages. Key to that is customer data, with 72 per cent of retailers thinking that a deeper understanding of their audience would make a difference to marketing efforts.

Neil Saunders, managing director at Conlumino, says: “Retailers that grasp the opportunity to understand their customers and treat them as individuals, are more likely to see increases in shopping trolley purchases and add to their profit margin.”

The report highlights retailers such as Boots, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s as the leaders in customer engagement. All four have strong loyalty programmes that harbour emotional connections with consumers, the report adds.

This is important because 80 per cent of consumers believe emotional connections are key to fostering loyalty. And here, these four retailers have the highest score, with Tesco coming out on top.

Personalisation is also important. Just 36.5 per cent of consumers say receiving marketing material makes them more likely to use a retailer. But this figure rises to 50 per cent if offers are tailored to them.