25% of UK’s leading brands charge consumers for returning online purchases

A woman with a latptop and bank card.

A quarter (25%) of the UK’s leading brands such as Zara and Boohoo are now charging shoppers to return purchases they have made online; a year-on-year increase of 14%.

The State of Operations Experience Management Study Series 2022, conducted by parcelLab, the Operations Experience Management platform, found that of those consumers being charged for making a return, the average cost is £3.53 and it takes an average of nine days for refunds to be processed. To undertake this...

18 October 2022 | Best Practice

Less than half of retailers believe they can effectively manage their digital operations

A woman making a payment in a cafe.

Retailers expect major increases in operational requirements around fulfilment and digital-related functions in 2023.

This is according to a survey from Incisiv, a next-generation industry insights firm that helps retailers and brands navigate digital disruption, titled Digital Complexity: Thriving in Unpredictable Times.

With the pace and complexity of operations in digital retail rising rapidly, most brands feel inadequately prepared to deal with these new challenges....

12 October 2022 | E-Commerce

65% of app marketers trialling new ways to target paying users

Nearly two thirds (65%) of app developers and marketers are searching for new ways of targeting new paying users without IDFA, cookies or data privacy issues.

This is according to the latest research from AdTech company Bango. Even with Google’s recent announcement that they are postponing the removal of cookies once again, changes such as Apple’s decision to restrict IDFA, and mounting government legislation, are forcing app developers and marketers to rethink their...

7 September 2022 | Commerce

Shoppers to shun online retailers who charge for returns

Nearly half (47%) of consumers wouldn’t shop with an online retailer that charges for online returns, according to new research from product performance management (PPM) platform ROI Hunter.

The research, which surveyed 2,015 UK consumers, found that price is still the most important influencing factor in online purchasing decisions. As a result, even a small uplift could run the risk of putting shoppers off at a time when many have already changed their shopping habits just to...

26 August 2022 | Commerce

Outsystems enables Sodexo Engage to better deliver customer rewards

A parcel with a gift tag.

OutSystems, a specialist in high-performance application development, has revealed that Sodexo Engage has deployed its platform to deliver a robust and secure, fully managed service for its public sector customers, in just 12 weeks.

The future-proof platform allows public sector customers of Sodexo Engage to offer both eVouchers and Bulk Voucher Cheques to their employees via desktop and mobile devices, as well as the ability to process high volumes of vouchers. It also removes...

22 August 2022 | Commerce

How retail marketers can empower back-to-school campaigns in a cookieless future

School pupils studying.

Cookies have long been a lunchbox favourite. However, when they’re of the ‘third-party’ variety, they leave a bad taste in the mouths of consumers everywhere, including those getting ready for back-to-school shopping. According to Cheetah Digital’s 2022 Digital Consumer Trends Index, 64% of U.K. consumers say they believe cookie tracking is “creepy”.

Google and other browsers have taken note, cementing plans to comprehensively cease third-party cookie tracking within...

18 August 2022 | Campaigns

Cloudinary App for Shopify automates media optimisation to boost conversions

A woman with a latptop and bank card.

Cloudinary, the media experience cloud company that powers digital experiences for brands, has launched a new integration for leading multichannel e-commerce platform Shopify.

The new integration brings Cloudinary’s intelligent media optimisation and editing capabilities directly to Shopify merchants. With Cloudinary, merchants can reduce image weight by up to 50% and compress video files by up to 80%* – efficiencies that ensure faster load speeds and a better user experience,...

12 August 2022 | E-Commerce

Student Beans launches tech to connect brands with 5 million potential customers

Student loyalty network Student Beans has unveiled a new brand in its audience verification technology - Beans iD.

The newly-launched tech will enable brands to provide securely gated discounts and incentives to verified members of six key in-demand consumer groups:

• Students (through Student Beans)• Graduates (through Grad Beans)• Healthcare professionals• Military and Armed Forces• First Responders• Teachers

In the UK, there are over five million...

4 August 2022 | Branding

Less than half of UK businesses respond to online reviews

Smiley faces with a tick next to a happy face.

Just 44% of UK business respond to online reviews, according to a cross-category online brand reputation study of more than 500 organisations.

Moreover, 38% do not have local branch pages, and less than half (42%) employ UTM performance marketing tracking.

The study, conducted by digital performance marketing agency DAC Group, audited businesses across seven categories - automotive, fashion, finance, health & fitness, food & beverage, land & property and...

13 July 2022 | Best Practice

Vast majority of consumers rely on video when shopping online

Two women looking at a laptop screen.

85% of consumers worldwide rely heavily on video when they purchase goods and services online, according to a study by Brightcove.

As part of a global investigation led by the online video platofrm provider, shoppers around-the-world have shared their perspectives on just how important video is as part of the purchase journey.

Some of the study's key findings include:

· Almost half of consumers worldwide (48%) say that video increases their confidence to shop...

28 June 2022 | E-Commerce