Currys crowned top UK retailer for savvy digital strategy

Currys are top of the UK retailing pile for their savvy digital promotions strategy, followed by Thomas Cook and Boots, according to a new report.

The report ‘From Promotion to Purchase’  benchmarked the promotions strategy of the UK’s top 20 online retailers, analysing the promotion types exploited and channels used for distribution, looking at aspects such as regularity, variety, mobile optimisation, personlisation and how compelling promotions are.

The study from RapidCampaign found that across the 20 retailers, the most common promotion type was competitions, with 17 out of 20 using this mechanism to engage customers.

It was followed by vouchers and coupons, which were used by 15. However, very few were employing surveys or more interactive promotions, missing an opportunity to engage customers and drive further sales.

Electronics retailer Currys came out on top, scoring highly (73%) for a wide range of promotions across a number of touch points, credited for its keen sense of unification across multiple channels.

In need of some improvement, telephone giant O2 and online fashion retailer Asos, both scored poorly with 18% and 6% respectively.

Asos was the poorest promotion performer, focussing instead on aspirational style content on its social, web and email channels.

Marko Luhtala, CEO of RapidCampaign commented on the findings, stating: “It is persuasive and innovative promotions strategies that have the power to cut through the noise and ultimately make the biggest difference to a retailers’ bottom line. But getting the basics right is vital.”

The report highlighted that consumers favour voucher codes, because it extends an immediate call to action and doesn’t limit a potential customer in their buying choice.

The top five performing retailers are:

1. Currys – 73%
2. Thomas Cook – 71%
3. Boots – 68%
4. Asda – 67%
5. Sports Direct – 63%