Footfall linked to digital spend

A survey of 1,153 UK retail workers carried out by Marketing Signals, revealed that just under 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 suggests that there is a large gap in knowledge 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.

These recent findings 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 Marketing Signals 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 confirms that 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 attempting to resolve the problem with in-store surveys. Using surveys to establish if customers who have searched for something online have actually visited a retail store, isn’t a particularly sophisticated solution to a very modern problem.”

SME Publications/ SME XPO 2024
SME Publications/ SME XPO 2024