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  • Retail Report 2019: It’s all in the media mix

    Retailers are facing a rapid change. Shopping sprees and spontaneous purchases are declining, while the number of purchases made online continues to increase. The practice of getting advice in retail stores and then buying a product cheaper online – known as advice theft – is flourishing. The Retail Report 2019 by the Gesellschaft für integrierte Kommunikationsforschung (GIK), or the company for integrated communication research, outlines current retail trends and illustrates how retailers can deal with the challenges posed by digitalisation effectively using targeted communication measures.

    The number of online stores continues to rise. Retailers must now (re)act with greater intensity and focus to entice consumers back into their stores. Fashion products and shoes in particular are now sold over the digital counter as a matter of course, with Amazon and eBay being the mainstays in this sector, but Ikea, Aldi and Lidl have also established themselves as power players in world of e-commerce. How can other retailers hold their own in this domain? A crucial factor for success is a perfect media mix with a focus on print advertising. This helps brands to establish themselves firmly and sustainably on the market, or to create long-term purchasing incentives.

    Print advertising creates consumers: retailer images perform particularly well

    The good news: retailers that use advertising images mostly perform above average in GIK’s assessment, and can impress in terms of clarity, credibility and informative value – advertising images from Edeka and Lidl are especially well received. Quality labels for foods are enjoying an increasing popularity among consumers – and those who prefer sustainable products such as local foods as well as organic and eco-friendly products are especially easy to reach with print media.

    A media mix increases the impact of advertising: print advertising acts as a booster

    In comparison to other industries, retail brands invest above-average amounts in daily newspapers (25 per cent) and radio (15 per cent) with the intent of generating quick sales. In contrast, retailers use television advertising a comparably below-average amount. The media mix strategy is becoming increasingly popular among retailers. Retail achieves better results than the average of all brands. Sympathy and the rate of recommendations have both increased 24 per cent above the average. Even long-term customer advertisement recall recorded an increase of 76 per cent.

    This is where including print media in a media mix provides an effective boost for impact of an advertisement. Daily newspapers are particularly effective for advertising food products, consumer electronics and DIY products, for example. General-interest magazines display their dominance in the fashion, computing and living sectors. A well-thought-out media mix has a positive impact on the purchase decision-making process overall. This is evidenced by the fact that acceptance of retail brands’ products is 33 per cent above the average.

    Continuous advertising is especially important for food retailers

    Despite the extremely high brand popularity in food retail – owing to the fact shopping frequency is almost daily – the findings of the study demonstrate the relevance of continuous advertising for everyday necessities: advertising exposure increases the initial advertisement recall. This recall is, as has already been shown, a driver for the actual purchasing behaviour. It is also reflected in the higher sympathy and recommendation values. Print also creates the decisive incentive here, even in cases of already high brand popularity.

    You can read about more retail trends, effective advertising strategies, exciting results and information from the new Retail Report 2019, as well as other trend studies, at b4ptrends.media.