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UK Mobile Purchase Growth Rates Surge; Consumers Will Punish Businesses that Fail to Safeguard Data

RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: UK Mobile Purchase Growth Rates Surge; Consumers Will Punish Businesses that Fail to Safeguard Data; and U.S. Tops Data-Protection Rankings.

UK Mobile Purchase Growth Rates Surge

Q1 2018 saw a 66% increase in smartphone purchase growth rate compared to Q4 2017, according to stats from Criteo’s Q1 Global Commerce Review. This highlights the increasing speed at which shoppers are adopting mobile as their primary platform.

In addition, the report shows that mobile devices accounted for over half (54%) of retail transactions in the UK, while apps are helping to drive mobile usage as, on average, European retailers who have a dedicated app saw mobile account for 25% more of their transactions than those that don’t.

The importance of mobile app is driven home by the fact that shopping apps generate conversion rates 3x higher than on mobile web for UK retailers. Globally, in-app transactions have increased 22% year-on-year, while the study also shows that retailers that combine offline and online data can apply over 4x as much sales data to inform their marketing strategies.

The study also explains why retailers need to understand the omnichannel consumer. Despite representing only 7% of all customers, omnichannel consumers are responsible for 27% of all sales. Omnichannel data is key to optimising marketing efforts; retailers that combine offline and online data can apply over 4x as much sales data to inform their marketing strategies.

Consumers Will Punish Businesses that Fail to Safeguard Data

Consumers have little trust in organisations to safeguard their personal data, with almost two-in-five (39%) saying they believe most businesses don’t know how to protect their data, finds a study by Veritas.

The research shows that consumers intend to take bold steps in penalising companies that don’t safeguard their data. Over half (56%) would stop buying from a business that fails to protect their data; while 47% would abandon their loyalty to a particular brand and consider turning to a competitor; and 79% would tell their friends and family to boycott the organisation.

However, the research shows that consumers also intend to reward companies that are properly protecting their data. Almost half (46%) of respondents say they would spend more money with organisations they trust to look after their data, with nearly a quarter (21%) willing to spend up to 25% more with businesses that take data protection seriously.

In line with recent high-profile cases involving personal data being shared with third parties, 94% of respondents express concerns about the protection of their personal data, with 46% saying they have no visibility into how companies are using or sharing their data.

U.S. Tops Data-Protection Rankings

The U.S. is at the top of the data protection ranking with 53% of U.S. startups stating they encrypt the data they process and 42% have a warning system in case of a breach that could put customer data at risk, according to Mailjet.

Europe is falling behind on this, particularly in France, with only 21% of startups declaring they protect their data properly and 28% having an alert system in place. The UK is the best-positioned in the European ranking with 33% encrypting data and 44% have an intrusion or breach alert procedure.

Spain tops the list for consent, with 60% seeking this and 75% incorporating straightforward withdrawal. There are also disparities between European countries for data minimisation (collecting only the data strictly necessary to achieve the objective). The gap between France and the UK is notable, with 80% of UK startups recognising the importance of data minimisation tactics compared to only 68% of French startups. This content was originally published in RetailTechNews.