Retail is projected to experience significant growth in messaging opt-ins by 2015 according to Textlocal, a mobile messaging solutions provider in the UK. These are expected to grow by 38 per cent by the end of 2015, to a total of 7.18 million, with both men and women open to regular communication.
While more women than men opt-in for retail-related messaging services overall, it appears that men are actually more open to regular communications than women with 1.99 million keen to hear from retailers at least once a month compared to 1.72 million females. Having said that, women are far from being ‘message shy’ with 38, 22 and 16 per cent of women open to receiving communications from retailers once a month, more than once a month and once a week or more respectively.
The number of opt-ins on feature phones will reduce while the number of opt-ins on smartphones will increase from 2.98 million to 5.57 million. In London, 333,755 opt-ins would accept messages from retailers on a weekly basis. Yorkshire boasts a total of 598,493 opt-ins.
Darren Daws, managing director, Textlocal, explains: “Consumers are always looking for a bargain and with that their acceptance of regular offers and communications from their chosen retailers has grown. With that in mind, retailers must ensure they are thinking about their customers as individuals and the type of communications they want to receive. Consumers want to feel in control, not spammed in their personal space, so it’s up to retailers to make sure they truly understand how best to reach their followers with a view to turning them into regular shoppers.”
Download the report for FREE from Textlocal here
