A study from data analysis consulting company Edge by Ascential found that UK consumers are expected to make permanent changes to their shopping habits in the wake of the pandemic, with  89 percent of consumers planning to continue shopping online. The study found that 61 percent of Britons admitted to shopping more online over the past few months, adding £5.3 billion to UK ecommerce sales.

As revenue continues to divert online, retailers will need to engage with this increasingly valuable group of online consumers. Even Aldi is now being forced to dip its toe into the online food market for example, trialling several new concepts, including a Deliveroo rapid delivery service and a click and collect service. The move to online is also particularly pertinent for local businesses to be on top of, with 55% of UK households increasing spend in this market since the start of the pandemic, according to new research from Rakuten Advertising.

Retailers then need to ensure that they are able to achieve share of voice in this ever more competitive marketplace, especially in the critical sales period running up to Christmas.

For some sectors of the market, opportunities are greater than ever. With the increasing uncertainty surrounding what the next few months will hold for the hospitality industry in the shadow of a rising Covid infection rate, consumers could well be looking to further trade up in their Christmas food and drink purchases, faced with the likely loss of the usual carousel of office parties, festive socialising and meals out.

Consequently, we’ve been reaching out to Yorkshire-based food and drink companies with online stores over the past week, to outline how we could help them to capitalise on the next few months with targeted media solutions. My blog last week ‘Looking over the geofence’ focused on the power of mobile advertising for example and why it should be part of the marketing mix.

If you’d be interested in how we could help your business make the most of Christmas trading, then please get in touch for a chat.