RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: Prime Day’s Rising Tide Raises All Ships; Marketers Failing to Make Strategic Changes for Voice; and London: The UK’s E-commerce Hub.

Prime Day’s Rising Tide Raises All Ships

Prime Day offers a significant boost to non-Amazon shopping apps, according to data from Liftoff.

Scores of other retailers, from eBay to Macy’s to Target, followed Amazon’s lead and rolled out their own promotions in an effort to keep pace with the marketplace giant. Their efforts seem to have paid off: in a major change from last year, Liftoff found that all non-Amazon retailers saw a massive 156% increase in mobile app installs and purchases during Prime Day, a trend that began on Sunday, spiked during the event, and then dwindled considerably in the following days.

Conversely, Liftoff’s 2017 analysis of Prime Week showed shopping activity increasing in advance of Prime Day, dropping as it took place, and then rising again in the following days. This year’s buyer behaviour suggests that next year e-commerce marketers may want to put even more of a focus on the event itself.

Across the entire week this year, the percentage of users who installed a non-Amazon shopping app and made a purchase increased by 46%, when compared to the previous five-week period.

While Prime Day boosted other retail apps in advance of and during the event, the days that followed took a major hit in install-to-purchase activity, with sales plummeting to a low of  -24% on Friday, compared to the prior five-week period.

Marketers Failing to Make Strategic Changes for Voice

Digital marketers are aware voice search will impact the way they market products and services, but almost a third (29%) aren’t actively doing anything to address the changing landscape, according to research released today from  Greenlight Digital.  

Widespread adoption of voice search shows no sign of slowing, with Canalys forecasting 70% year-on-year growth of smart speaker sales with shipments to reach over 56 million units this year. Marketers understand this is going to impact the way consumers interact with brands, with over a third (36%) acknowledging it’s fundamentally going to change the way customers search for items over the next 18 months.  

Yet, what marketers recognise as a trend isn’t necessarily reflected in the action they are taking. Although a quarter (25%) feel they can incorporate voice search into their marketing strategy in order to maximise the impact Amazon has on the industry, 29% admit they are currently not doing anything to address it.  

When it comes to putting hands in pockets, although 43% of marketers admit they will be investing marketing budget into advertising with Amazon to reach customers through voice search, a quarter still remain unsure. It seems they don’t know whether they will be investing, despite many recognising it will change the way retail businesses market to consumers.    

The most predominant tactic marketers are adopting to address the change is reassessing product names to reflect how users speak – true for 32% of digital marketers surveyed. This will enable voice-search users to find a brand’s products more easily and make those brands more readily visible. 

London: The UK’s E-commerce Hub

Over half of UK consumers (51%) admit they now prefer to shop online than in-store, according to a study by EmpathyBroker. A similar amount (55%) also say that they are shopping more online this year compared to 2017.

The regular consumer shops online on average six times per month, with 25-34-year olds the most active, shopping on a retailer’s website eight times a month. The study also showed similarities between the sexes, with 27% of men and 25% of women shopping online once a week. Londoners are the most active online shoppers in England, indulging in e-commerce retail therapy on average seven days per month.

Only 13% of consumers know exactly what product they want to buy every time they visit an e-commerce website, with 42% saying only some of the time. Almost two-thirds of shoppers (65%) like to have a browse or general look around every time or a lot of the time they shop, and online stores are also increasingly becoming a source for shopping inspiration. A third of all consumers (33%) look for brands to suggest product options or give tips about the latest trends every time or a lot of the time they visit a site. This may explain why two-in-five people (43%) say they are more likely to make an unexpected purchase online than in-store.