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The royal wedding set to boost retail spend by £195.5 million: study

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This Saturday’s Royal Wedding is set to deliver a boost to UK retail sales. Sales are expected to lift by £195.5m – or 0.2% – by the end of August, including £93.1m in May alone, says analyst Springboard. Footfall is expected to grow by 0.3% over the same period. 

“National celebrations have traditionally had a positive impact on both footfall and spending behaviour. Over the period of the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge footfall increased by 5% in the week of the wedding, and then by an average of +0.9% over the three months following the wedding as shoppers’ spirits were lifted and their purse strings loosened, says Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard.

“Whilst we are anticipating a rise in sales, we are forecasting that this increase will be around a quarter of that forecast for the previous royal wedding  – in part a result of the poorer trading conditions we are currently experiencing. However, we are still anticipating that spending on food and drink will rise by £33.2 million whilst non-food which includes fashion will reach £48.9 million as a result of the much talked about ‘Meghan Effect’. With a global spotlight on the UK direct tourist spend is set to rise by £48.9 million over the coming months and over £41.1 million is set to be spent on wedding linked merchandise.”

When it comes to strategies for ecommerce retailers, Emma Thompson, head of strategy at ecommerce digital marketing agency Visualsoft identified three key points that will help them to make the most of the opportunity to boost sales.

1. Get social

Twitter reported 300 #RoyalWedding tweets per second during the Royal Wedding in 2011, so there is a huge opportunity to take advantage of this audience. Businesses should pay attention to relevant hashtags across all social channels and use trending topics such as “Harry & Meghan” to target and promote relevant products to consumers.

2. Proactively promote the right stock

Businesses should keep a close eye on the news and be ready to stock and promote any hot “hero products” immediately – or similar items that allow royal enthusiasts to emulate the look. Creating a promoted landing page for the royal wedding related products, like Union Jack party supplies or champagne, can also help to boost sales – providing consumers with inspiration and a one-stop shop for all their needs.

3. Offer international payments

Online retailers have the opportunity to engage royalists all over the world who want to purchase wedding memorabilia. To capitalise on this, businesses should offer a variety of international payment methods (U.S./Canadian dollars, Euros etc.) to facilitate a quick and easy purchase

Image: Fotolia

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