Two thirds of UK shoppers (66%) expect a personalised experience from the brands they regularly shop with this Black Friday. That’s according to new research from Twilio, the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalised experiences for today’s leading brands.
The survey of 2,000 UK consumers revealed a big opportunity for brands to engage with new audiences, with over a third (36%) of UK consumers saying Black Friday is the day of the year that they are the most open to trying out new brands. Nearly half (46%) also said they are more likely to become a year-long customer if they’ve had a positive Black Friday experience with a brand.
However, these findings also reinforce the need for brands to engage their existing customer base and put strategies in place to avoid them looking elsewhere. Respondents suggested companies could achieve this by giving them prior notification of an upcoming sale (33%), notifying them if a product or service they repeatedly buy is heading into the sales (30%), and delivering personalised communications based on past purchases (23%).
One in five (21%) respondents also said that, when they are a regular and loyal customer, they do not want to compete with ‘new’ customers to get the best deals. This further supports the idea that brands need to go the extra mile to reward and engage their existing customer base.
Black Friday fails
Twilio’s research highlighted the biggest mistakes that brands can make during this period, with the three biggest consumer frustrations revealed to be:
- Seeing the same, if not better, discounts at other times of year (37%)
- Having to wade through a lot of irrelevant products before finding deals that appeal (30%)
- The product being of poor quality, or not as advertised (30%)
In addition, more than one in five (23%) felt frustrated by receiving unsolicited marketing and targeted adverts from a brand after a Black Friday purchase. Nearly half (46%) went on to say they would be less likely to return to a brand post- Black Friday if they were inundated with generic marketing messages.
Sam Richardson, CX consultant at Twilio, comments: “Black Friday presents a unique opportunity for brands. Big discounts and limited time offers mean that consumers are open to exploring something new – but this does mean the pressure is also on retailers to keep existing customers engaged.
“As this research shows, personalisation is key. Brands need to use consensually-collected first-party data to make sure they are offering loyal customers relevant products and that they are made to feel special on this day. Customers don’t want to waste time trawling the internet for deals – instead, they deserve to quickly and easily see items they haven’t bought before and that complement previous purchases.
“By keeping a dual focus on engaging existing customers and making sure new visitors have a positive first impression, brands will be able to use Black Friday as a key driver of growth.”
