30 Sep 2011: Consumers rank high street stores and supermarkets as most trustworthy when it comes to handling their personal data, while voucher sites, mail order companies and online retailers are least trusted. These are some of the key findings of consumer research in the retail sector by marketing and data specialist The REaD Group.

According to the 1,500 British adult consumers surveyed, the nation’s favourite retailers in terms of market penetration are the supermarket retailer Tesco and the online retailer Amazon with over 74% of UK adults making purchases with these retailers every year. The John Lewis Partnership offered the best customer buying experience, which was followed by Amazon and then Laura Ashley.

Interestingly, it wasn’t just super brands that scored highly with consumers when it came to offering high levels of service. Hotel Chocolat, Richer Sounds, Bose and online retailer Firebox also did very well. 

Although the research showed that consumers shopped most frequently in supermarkets over any other type of retailer, only 14% of consumers like buying food online. This suggests that supermarkets need to improve and personalise the online food buying process in order to compete with the prevailing ‘market stall’ mentality that  makes us want to touch, smell and see the food products we buy.

The key to succeeding in these troubled times is underpinning multichannel retailing with a strong multichannel communication strategy. The research indicates that retailers have a way to go when it comes to sending relevant communications to consumers. Only 6% of consumers felt the marketing communications they received were targeted and appropriate.  Far from being dead, 37% of consumers prefer hearing about new products on the box, making TV advertising a highly powerful medium for retailers with bigger budgets.

When it came to the all important question of trust, high street stores came out on top with 39% of consumers trusting them most with their customer data, this was closely followed by superstores with 37%.  In contrast, voucher sites, mail order companies and online retailers were least trusted.  However, with relatively low scores across the board, the results indicate that consumers are increasingly aware of data security but lack overall confidence in the way their data is managed by retailers.  18-24 year olds trust big brand retailers when it comes to protecting their personal customer details.

Mark Roy, Chair of the DMA Data Council and CEO of The REaD Group plc comments: “British retailers are facing an unprecedented onslaught, yet in the minds of consumers the channel remains desirable and important.  An inexorable desire for consumers to interact with a product means that increasing and driving store traffic across multiple retail channels has never been more important. Success in the sector will depend on how retailers exploit new data intelligence techniques, how they communicate across marketing channels and by the standard of the services that they deliver.  Whilst conditions are tough, many retailers are thriving to the detriment of those that are sitting on their hands.”

Key findings:

• Women shop more frequently and widely than men!
• Tesco is the UKs favourite Supermarket.
• Amazon and Tesco have the same market penetration.
• The John Lewis Partnership & Waitrose offer the best customer buying experience.
• Amazon is the most popular retailer for service and buying frequency.
• 50% of consumers said an attractive promotion would encourage them to buy. 
• Retailers need to improve the way they communicate across marketing channels.
• Far from being ‘dead’ TV advertising is consumer’s favourite channel for hearing about new products and email is the preferred digital channel.

To download the report please visit http://www.readgroupplc.com/retail