We’re reporting on the effect of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on the way UK shoppers buy – and on how retailers are responding to that changing behaviour. This update comes as, as of May 12, 226,463 people have tested positive for coronavirus and 32,692 people have died following a positive Covid-19 test result. Over the previous day, 3,403 people were reported to have tested positive and 627 people were reported to have died following a positive test.
AMAZON EXPANDS PRIME NOW SAME-DAY FOOD DELIVERIES
Amazon has expanded its Prime Now same-day food deliveries in the UK and Spain, expanding to cover the whole of London, adding in major UK cities and covering Barcelona.
In the UK, the marketplace giant is working with Morrisons to expand a 19-stsore London trial to cover 90% of Greater London, as well as adding Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh to the mix.
In Spain, it is working with DIA to expand its existing service in Madrid and Valencia to Barcelona.
Shoppers will be able to book a two-hour window for a same-day delivery between 8am and midnight by the end of the month.
CONVENIENCE GROCERY DELIVERY APP EXPANDS
Grocemania, an app-based delivery service for the convenience grocery sector, is to expand across the UK as demand for food delivery from small local stores grows.
Working with Budgens, Nisa, Londis and Costcutter, as well as numerous independent retailers, it is now planning to expand with this network from the capital to Brighton, Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester by July 2020, with more regions to follow.
ECOMMERCE APP USE STARTS TO GROW
Ecommerce app downloads and transactions stalled at the start of the lockdown, but now it seems the wealth of consumers shopping online are starting to revisit apps for retail.
Research by Adjust indicates that more consumers are downloading and using apps now than they were a month ago – although there is some way to go before they get back to where that was in January.
Adjust believes that the fall occurred because retail marketers ceased spending on app customer acquisition at the start of the lockdown and are now, given that their main source of income is digital currently, have switched that back on.
RETAIL SPENDING DOWN BY A THIRD, ONLINE MAKES SOME GAINS
Online spending on food, DIY, games consoles and subscriptions saw some growth during lockdown, however overall consumer spending has dropped by more than a third, according to Barclaycard data.
The 36.5% drop in retail spending in April was largely driven by the 60% drop in card spending on fuel. Spending on other non-essentials such as transport and sports fell by 47%, while takings in bars, clubs and restaurants is down 96%.
Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG logged the largest ever fall in retail takings in April as the lockdown started to bite. Online sales were up nearly 60%, but this wasn’t enough to make up for the losses found in in-store retail.
GLOBAL ONLINE RETAIL UP 209%, BUT CHARGEBACKS ALSO RISE
Some good news to end on today: a global study by payments processor ACI Worldwide suggests that online retail has been the biggest winner so far of the global lockdown, seeing average growth across all markets of 209% year-on-year in April, on e-commerce transaction volumes that were up 23.5%.
Gaming and digital downloads grew by 126% and 26% respectively. Ticketing for events was hardest hit overall, slumping by 99%. Travel was down 99%.
Less comforting, the study also finds that chargebacks – the return of money to customers – were up by 25% in late March, indicating companies’ difficulties in following through on orders. And fraud is up 43%, to 5.3% in April, compared to 3.7% in April 2019.
