The vast majority (74%) of UK retailers do not correctly attribute footfall to digital spend and 68% are unsure of the return on investment their most recent digital marketing campaign achieved, according to new research.
A survey of 1,153 UK retail workers carried out by digital marketing agency, Marketingsignals, revealed that three quarters (74%) of UK retailers are failing to assess the full worth of their digital marketing spend – due to them not accurately attributing the impact on footfall.
The research revealed that there is a giant knowledge gap and that most brands are unsure of the impact digital marketing spend is having on offline store visits, with a further 68% of retailers unsure of the ROI of their most recent digital marketing campaign.
Recent research from Marketing Signals found that 85% of UK retail transactions happen in store, not online. This research also revealed that a staggering 94% of consumers state they’ll always research a product online before going into store to purchase – so it’s perhaps unsurprising that retailers are struggling to get this right.
The retailers who are embracing technology to track their customers from when they are served a digital ad, to when they make an in-store purchase, are the ones who are accurately measuring their own ROI from digital marketing spend.
Gareth Hoyle, managing director at Marketingsignals.com comments: “Our research points to the growing importance of omnichannel in the UK, yet many struggle to measure success.”
Online advertising, of course, doesn’t have the same issues – every click and sale can be measured and attributed. The issue for retailers comes when consumers have first visited a website and then gone to a store to complete their purchase. Our recent research revealed that 85% of UK retail sales still happen in store, not online, so there is a huge gap in ability of marketers to track the true impact of their spend.”
“While technology such as Google Store Visits exists to help retailers accurately measure the ROI of their digital spend, we see many retailers ignoring this and attempt to resolve the problem with in-store surveys. Using the surveys to establish if customers who’ve searched for something online have actually visited a retail store, isn’t a particularly sophisticated solution to a very modern problem.”