If that’s not enough, be sure to check out the Internet Statistics Database too.

Let’s get to it.

Number of UK businesses selling on social is predicted to double in the next six months

PayPal’s Commerce Index – which features views from more than 26,000 global consumers and businesses – has revealed that the number of UK businesses selling via social media is expected to double during the next six months. This means that shoppers will be able to buy from an additional 600,000 UK retailers on social.

Interestingly, PayPal suggests that the UK still lags behind other countries when it comes to social commerce. Currently, just 24% of British businesses sell via social platforms, while the global average is 35%.

Alongside this, UK consumers still also show higher levels of security concern – particularly about having their financial information linked to their social media accounts. 64% of UK consumers show concern over the security of mobile commerce, compared to 58% in the US, and just 28% in Japan.

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94% of global shoppers could be encouraged to choose a slower and cheaper delivery option

Today’s online shoppers want upfront transparency on fees, control over the delivery process, and a clearly-stated returns policy. This is according to UPS’ ‘Pulse of the Online Shopper’ report, which based on a survey of more than 18.000 online shoppers worldwide.

The report suggests that, while respondents like next-day deliveries, they will consider other options – such as lower fees or incentives – for slower shipping. In fact, 94% of global consumers could be encouraged to choose a slower and cheaper delivery option if they were offered it.

Overall, millennial shoppers are more likely to choose accelerated delivery options than other age groups. In the UK specifically, online shoppers have a very low appetite for shipping costs. This is why 35% will choose click and collect in order to obtain free shipping, 35% will add further items to their cart, and 35% will choose the slowest delivery option.

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30 to 34 year-olds are most likely to convert on luxury retail websites

Brands tend to assume that older audiences are more likely to buy luxury goods, based on the fact that consumers in the second half of their careers tend to have higher incomes.

However, research from Comscore suggests that age is not the only segment worth considering. Taking all factors into account – including employment status, household size etc. – it found that the audience likely to yield the highest conversion rate for an online luxury retailer is high-income 30 to 34-year-olds, with no more than one child.

Comscore suggests that, as these consumers age, they initially become less likely to buy luxury brands – presumably due to the expense of having children. As a result, only as shoppers hit the 55 to 65-year-old age group do conversion rates for high-income shoppers increase again.

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Why luxury brands need digital transformation

85% of grocery retailers lack capabilities to monetise data

A study by Forrester Consulting has revealed that 85% of grocery retailers globally lack the capabilities needed to monetise their data and drive customer experience.

As it stands, just 15% of global grocery retailers are classified as ‘leaders’, differentiated by data-led customer strategies for growth and improved supplier relationships. The majority are lagging behind.

Meanwhile, 96% of global grocery retailers experience challenges trying to use data to develop customer strategies (in order to drive growth). In the UK, the main concern – cited by 40% of respondents – is the lack of data management tools or technology. Just over half of UK respondents use mobile app data and only 42% use customer data to make decisions about customers. Even fewer use other sources such as point-of-sale, promotions data, and web metric data.

Despite these apparent barriers, 82% of UK grocery retailers view growing revenues as their top priority in 2020, and 78% plan to do so by improving their use of data insights to develop customer strategies.

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75% of UK consumers are happy to share personal data

A new report by Valitor, based on a survey of 2,000 UK consumers, has revealed that brands are largely failing when it comes to personalisation – despite the fact that three-quarters of consumers are happy for their data to be shared.

The report states that a third of consumers view irrelevant retail offers as the biggest marketing mistake made by brands. Meanwhile 48% think when it comes to relationship ‘building’, all they generally see are spam emails post-sale.

The good news for brands, however, is that consumers are still happy to provide them with personal data, as long as it is used in the right way. In fact, 75% of consumers are comfortable with the concept of a brand holding personal information about them in order to improve services.

Four tips for getting the most out of a Customer Data Platform (CDP)

John Lewis Christmas ad generates the most social media interactions

It’s had a mixed reception overall, but new data from Socialbakers suggests that John Lewis’ Christmas ad has still dominated social media interactions.

With 8.1m views on YouTube, 209.4k Twitter interactions, 47.1k Instagram interactions, and 126.9k Facebook interactions – #ExcitableEdgar has generated the most engagement so far.

Meanwhile, Marks and Spencer’s two Christmas ads has generated different results across the channels. The #GoJumpers ad received more interest on Twitter and Youtube, whereas M&S Christmas Food was more well-received on Facebook.

Finally, Debenhams’ Christmas ad provoked the most negative comments and the most dislikes on Facebook; 62.3% of total interactions were dislikes. This was followed by the ad #GiftLikeYouGetThem from Boots, which generated 50.3% dislikes from total interactions.

10 of the best ad campaigns from the UK’s top supermarkets