It includes news about DTC brands, location data, life post-GDPR, retail customer service, and more.

The Internet Statistics Database is full of interesting stats too.

Just 8% of global consumers have a better understanding of how companies use their data since GDPR’s introduction

Ogury has released the findings of a survey of 287,571 consumers, examining attitudes towards mobile marketing, advertising and data use.

With GDPR reaching its one year anniversary on May 25th, the survey found that only 8% of consumers globally feel they have a better understanding of how companies use their data since GDPR’s introduction. Similarly, 52% of consumers globally still don’t understand how their data is used after reading consent forms and privacy policies.

However, when given a clear and fair choice about which data to share and to what purpose, seven out of 10 consumers globally choose to share their data rather than paying to access content.

GDPR: A year on

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SimplyCook & Made.com named the UK’s leading DTC brands 

In a study on the consumer awareness of direct-to-consumer brands, Rakuten Marketing has found that four of the top five names are UK businesses, putting them ahead of global brands Glossier, Harry’s, and Casper.

In a survey of 2,000 UK consumers, it was revealed that global DTC brands are lesser known than SimplyCook, Made.com, Abel & Cole, and Birchbox.

In terms of where consumers convert, 17% of consumers say Facebook is their most likely point of sale, 12% still rely on the brand’s own website, and 14% prefer cashback and discount code sites.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that social media still plays a heavy role in raising consumer awareness of DTC brands. 44% of UK consumers cite Facebook as a platform that has raised their awareness of DTC brands, while 31% say YouTube, and 28% say Instagram.

DTC statWhy UGC is so important to subscription ecommerce brands

Mobile app permissions rising

Airship has revealed the results of its global benchmark study, examining the state of mobile app user permissions across nearly 700 million people worldwide. 

It states that mobile app audiences have continued to grow, rising 16.6% year over year. Businesses are also sending more notifications, with an average of 36 per user per month – up 18.4% since last year. Meanwhile, the average notification opt-in rate remains at 67% of global app users.

Another interesting finding from the report is that people are becoming more selective in sharing their location data. The average opt-in rate for use of location data declined from 9.3% to 7.7% worldwide.That being said, in industries where the use of location data provides an immediate consumer benefit, opt-in rates for location-based services increased dramatically.

Among 15 industry verticals, Entertainment rose from the fourth to the second highest average location opt-in rate, while Food & Drink entered the top five for the first time due to rising adoption of mobile pre-order and delivery services from restaurants.

Mobile Marketing Best Practice Guide

UK retailers failing to deliver customer service on social

New research from Eptica has revealed that many UK retailers are failing to deliver proper customer service on social media. The study involves the analysis of 20 top UK retailers, regarding their accuracy and speed at answering relevant, routine queries. It also involved a survey of 1,000 UK consumers about their opinions of customer experience.

The study found that retailers successfully answered just 38% of routine questions sent to them on Twitter – down from 50% in 2017. On Facebook, retailers answered 50% of Facebook messages – up from 28% in 2017. In contrast to this, retailers answered 68% of emails successfully – down from 73% in 2017. The best channel for customer service was the web, which provided 83% of answers (that customers found out themselves).

The speed of response varied widely – Facebook was 2x as fast on average as Twitter, and 15x faster than email – despite the same question being asked on all channels.

The study also found that the impact of this type of poor service can be huge, as 59% of consumers ranked giving satisfactory and consistent answers as a top three factor in creating trustworthiness. 89% of consumers surveyed said they either will stop buying from brands that they don’t trust, or will spend less.

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Four key trends in social media customer service

53% of internet users have watched a video on Facebook in the past month

A new infographic by GlobalWebIndex highlights some key trends in social media usage among varying demographics. The information is taken from its Q1 2019 online research among 139,397 internet users aged 16 to 64.

It shows that Facebook reaps the rewards of placing video at the core of its platform, with 53% of users (spread equally among demographics) watching a video on Facebook in the past month. This falls to 43% on Instagram, 32% on Twitter, and just 14% on Snapchat. Engagement with live video is also the highest on Facebook, with 25% of users engaging with live video in the past month.

Elsewhere, GlobalWebIndex reinforces the opportunities afforded by influencer marketing, as it found that 56% of users always like to seek an expert opinion before purchasing something. 14% also say they discover new brands via celebrity or influencer endorsement, and 16% have clicked on a sponsored post on a social network in the past month.

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96% of US mobile users have seen an ad that references their location

A new report from The Manifest – based on a survey of 727 US adults – has revealed that 96% of the people surveyed has seen an ad that references their location.

The good news for advertisers is also that the majority of users feel happy with this, as 66% say they are comfortable with apps that use their location from previous visits because it saves them valuable time and effort. Only 7% of people are uncomfortable when a mobile app fills in their location based on past searches. 

The research also found that 38% of survey respondents have accidentally shared their location via a social app without realising it. However, 46% kept an app after accidentally sharing their location on it, and 40% of people decided to continue sharing their location with the app. 

Lastly, 79% say they have included a geotag when posting on social media, showing that the majority of people are unconcerned with location-data security. 

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83% of shoppers abandon online purchase due to overwhelming choice

A new study by iAdvize – based on the responses of 2,000 UK consumers – has uncovered some of the reasons why high intent shoppers end up abandoning their online purchases.

It found that 83% of shoppers who abandoned a purchase did so because they felt there was too much choice online, and felt overwhelmed by the amount of options available. When abandoning a basket online, 58% of shoppers felt there wasn’t enough product information available to help them decide on their purchase, and a further 55% said that fears around making the right decision was also a cause of cart abandonment.

Lastly, 52% of the consumers surveyed said better advice and product information would make them spend more with a retailer, while a further 56% said it would spend more frequently with a brand. Shoppers cited both chatbots and live chat as ways retailers could offer advice – more so than the option to speak to a customer service advisor on the phone.

Ecommerce Best Practice Guide