RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: Slumber Shopping; ‘Self-Use’ Gift Cards Are Driving Acquisition; and Humans Not Machines.

Slumber Shopping

Brands are set to benefit from a surge in ‘slumber shopping’ – shopping when we should be sleeping – as soaring temperatures leave us too hot to switch off, according to new data from The Trade Desk.

This also shows that overnight internet traffic shot up by a fifth (19%) during last year’s biggest heatwave, compared to the average traffic for the same period four weeks before.

The trend was most pronounced in London, which saw an increase in internet traffic of approximately 49%, followed by Manchester (44%), Sheffield (32%), and Nottingham (28%) – suggesting these cities are most receptive to brand messages during uncomfortably hot conditions.

Brands related to education and careers stand to have the biggest impact. During the heatwave in July 2017, the audience for those verticals increased by 88% and 95%, respectively, as consumers used those restless early hours to rethink their life plans. Likewise, 90% more users were online and presented with ads from family and parenting brands, no doubt being kept awake by young children struggling with the heat.

The audience for food and drink ads was over a third (36%) bigger, while personal finance brands also experienced an uplift, with 15% more users online – indicating that ‘slumber shopping’ is the optimum time for grocery shopping and life admin.

‘Self-Use’ Gift Cards Are Driving Acquisition

Nearly half of UK shoppers (47%) are purchasing gift cards to spend on themselves, finds a study by Zeek. The top three drivers for self-purchase are convenience (37%), to receive a discount (36%), and to help budget shopping (24%).

Both online and offline retail are gaining from the self-use trend. While shoppers are more commonly using them for online purchasing (66%), nearly half of respondents (48%) have used them to shop in-store where the average order value is 17% higher than it is online.

Gift cards bought for self-use are helping to drive loyalty – with almost three-in-five (57%) of self-purchasers saying they visit a particular store or restaurant more often because of their gift card – and 24% agreeing that they do this ‘much more’ often.

Over three-quarters of self-purchasers are overspending on their gift card, providing retailers with additional revenue. On average they overspend by £28.35 per transaction. Millennials are overspending by the most, averaging an overspend of £33.34.

Gift cards are also assisting retailers with customer acquisition – over 7-in-10 UK shoppers agree that a gift card would encourage them to shop at a store they wouldn’t normally visit – additionally, nearly a quarter of Millennials say that it would ‘definitely’ encourage them.

Humans Not Machines

Nearly three-quarters of customers are more loyal if they can speak to a human instead of a machine, shows data from Calabrio.

Eight-in-ten (79%) respondents think interacting with a human, as opposed to a chatbot or digital self-service channel (e.g. email, Twitter etc.), is an important part of good customer service. The reasons for this are:

- They feel like they are being listened to (60%)

- They feel like their issue will actually get solved (56%)

- They feel like their issue will be dealt with quickly (53%)

The report also examines what drives customer loyalty, with great products and services (61%) being the biggest factor. Price (45%) was only the fourth biggest driver, with consumers saying the fact that when they complain they are being listened to (50%) and easy communication (48%) are bigger factors. Three-quarters (76%) think technology is relevant when it comes to providing a good customer experience.