Retail Christmas Webinar

Did you know that during December last year there were ~170,000 searches a week for 'Ugg Boots'? Or that there was a five-fold increase in search traffic for 'Christmas hampers'?

Don't just leave it up to Santa this year, discover the best ways to promote your store and products with Google UK and Ireland's Christmas Search Webinar.

Topics covered include:
How and when search volumes increase in the lead up to December 25
Last year's popular search terms
New tools and reports to ensure your PPC campaigns can efficiently capture all relevant user search interest

We will be hosting 2 webinars during September. Please follow the links below to register.

Wed 2nd September 14:30 BST (GMT+1). Register here

Wed 23rd September 15:00 BST (GMT+1). Register here

We look forward to sharing some special festive insights with you!

Posted by Jonathan Marsh, UK Retail Team

Luxury Loses its Lustre and Bling Ain't the Thing...Except Online

Questions of whether the gilded luxury bubble has burst are plaguing retailers. Verdict recently issues a dire report about the state of global luxury retailing, which it predicts is facing the toughest market conditions in two decades. [1] Changing consumer behaviour, currency exchange issues and bankers having the bonuses taken from under their noses are all factors contributing to the tough times faced by luxury brands. The silver lining (hey, at least it's a precious metal) is that e-commerce is poised to become a major sales channel for for high-end goods.

In the past, luxury retailers focused almost exclusively on the very wealthy. In the current economic climate, where even rap stars are selling their dazzling grillz for the liquidation value at sellyourgoldteeth.com [2], retailers cannot rely on the ultra-rich to keep their businesses afloat. It was speculated that the closure of two Barney's stores had less to do with the wealthy curbing their spending than with the middle-class, whose aspirational and splurge purchases--which were perhaps influenced by watching Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw console herself with Barney's merchandise--have contributed to the store's success in recent years, but now is in decline due to recession woes and job fears. [3]

In the past few years, UK department stores have seen a sharp contraction in sales, damaging the luxury market even further. [1] However, many believe that this is not the end to extravagance as we now know it; shoppers still want their luxury goods, but on the down-low. "It's a lot more chic to be saying, 'I'm cutting back,'" said Alexis Maybank, a co-founder of an online luxury shopping site, Gilt, in a recent Los Angeles Times article. "You see a lot of people seeking privacy in their shopping, but they're still shopping. You see people moving to online sites." [4]

And while many consumers are ready to buy, most luxury retailers aren't willing to sell. The majority of of UK luxury retailers do not offer transactional sites and instead use the web exclusively for branding and informational purposes. But while luxury brands struggle with how to maintain the air of exclusivity and customer experience that can be found in their retail stores, consumers have shown they they are not afraid to make high-end purchases online, financial crisis be damned.

It appears that the road less travelled by luxury brands--online retailing and e-commerce--may be paved with gold, as sites that are offering luxury goods online are thriving. You may not be able to buy Oscar de la Renta goods directly in the UK online, but you can buy them, and those of numerous other designers, on Net-a-Porter.com. Net-a-Porter recently reported a 48% increase in sales and a 230% increase in profits, citing exclusive collaborations with designers such as Alexander McQueen and RM by Roland Mouret as key drivers to their success. [5]

Amazon.co.uk is also hip to the luxury market. On the site, their marketplace sellers list more than a hundred pieces of jewellery priced between £100,000 and £223,000 on the site, and Amazon directly sells jewellery at price points that range above £7500. Other sites, like SheerLuxe.com, are combining quality content with the luxury shopping experience on their site that is as much like an online fashion magazine as a shopping portal.

Ultimately, although luxury purchases may slow in stores, the possibilities for luxury retailing online are as dazzling as the jewellery they sell. In a survey released this month, 43% of UK shoppers said they planned to spend more time online searching for cheaper versions of items from high street stores. [6] And Polo Ralph Lauren recently saw a 19% increase in online sales, notwithstanding comparable-store sales declining 5.2%. [7] So despite the doom and gloom forecasts, the online opportunities for the luxury market are crystal clear.

[1] "Gobal Luxury Retailing 2009" Verdict Research, June 2009
[2] "Culture of Bling Clangs to Earth as the Recession Melts Rappers' Ice" Miguel Bustillo, Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2009
[3] "Barneys becomes latest recession victim" Bruce Watson, Daily Finance, May 6th 2009
[4] "Spending on luxury in tight times" Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2009
[5] "Net-A-Porter reports profits up 230%" Internet Retailing, June 12, 2009
[6] "UK E-Commerce: Fighting the Downturn" Karin von Abrams, eMarketer, August 2009
[7] "Luxury goods maker Polo Ralph Lauren scores with a 19% rise in web sales" Internet Retailer, June 4, 2009

Posted by Lina Goldberg, UK Retail Team

Survival of the Fastest Part 2

Here are a few more Survival of the Fastest videos from Google that might be of interest to UK retailers.

Hal Varian, Chief Economist - Google "Computer mediated transactions"




Richard Reed, Co-Founder - Innocent Drinks "How do you sustain innovation in a tough climate?"




Alan Lim, Group CEO - Purely Group "Will customer service fall victim to the downturn?"



Posted by Lina Goldberg, UK Retail Team

Music and Video Retail - You Can't Touch This!

Tough times on the high street plus the terminal decline in CD sales have wrought major changes for traditional music and video retailers. Copious column inches have already been dedicated to the decline of such retail stalwarts as Woolworths, Zavvi and Fopp, not to mention the pessimism of a commercial music industry where artists now offer their music for free. As besieged as traditional music and video retail has been, recent Verdict research shows an increase in the proportion of customers now shopping for music and video online.

Verdict's recent study How Britain Shops 2009: Music and Video reveals that 49.9% of all British adults aged 16+ shop for music and video, an increase of 6.7% over 2008 and a rise that bucks a gradual year on year downward trend since 2005 [1]. Moreover, the success and healthy profits reported by HMV since loosing significant high street competitors would show that periods of adversity can be when market leaders make serious headway and deliver real innovation to their customers.

Not so long ago your average music and video retail specialist was only a lively and comprehensively stocked, if not necessarily competitively priced, in-store experience. Today that picture is as passe as a pair of MC Hammer's voluminous parachute pants. HMV, who are two years into a three-year restructuring plan, have embarked on a bold round of diversification reflecting the wide range of platforms music flans use to hear and consume music. Ticket sales, expanding its fashion range, venue sponsorship, new loyalty schemes for "money can't buy items" including back stage passes and signed memorabilia, plus vigorously promoting their own online and download offerings, have all helped define their new strategy.

The role of DRM-free downloads should not be overlooked in spurring on the recent upward trend in music and video shopping. Verdict posit that by giving shoppers the freedom to play downloaded music on any device has expanded the potential customer base of download operators [1]. Again this has proven beneficial for the UK's largest music and video specialist, HMV despite harsh price deflation from online pureplays and previously unforeseen competition from supermarket chains like Tescos.

Verdict's research also reveals some key developments in the ongoing fortunes of the premiere pureplay music and video retailers Amazon and Play. Following the ever greater penetration of high speed internet connections Amazon has increased its visitor and main user share. Meanwhile Play, has achieved the highest ratings among all music and video operators for price and service [1].

The new world of music and video retail undoubtedly presents businesses with fundamental challenges and questions. The apparent growth in the sales of digital media coupled with specialist retailers determination to diversify into new sales channels would seemingly show the path of its future. Nevertheless, one factor remains as enduring as ever; namely the importance of maintaining customer loyalty. Price, service and range are the key drivers for loyalty in music and video retail. So, while it may be tempting to reduce that back catalogue of old, hard to find albums or curtail your stock of niche indie hits in favour of selling a new fashion line, their importance to customers remains undiminished.

[1] "How Britain Shops 2009: Music and Video" Verdict July 2009