Online retail spend to reach £44.5bn by 2012
MediaComment: Recently, the British Retail Consortium reported a drop in UK retail sales of 1.6% in March, its first dip for two years, with only a modest 1.2% increase predicted for the year. However, online retail in the UK will grow by 32% in 2008, with sales of £19.5 billion (6.7% of all UK retail), according to research from Verdict Research. A significant factor driving online retail success is growing numbers of consumers with dwindling disposable income finding bargains online where prices are more competitive than the high street. So, it’s no surprise Verdict Research is predicting online retailers' share of UK retail will increase to 13.6% (£44.5 billion) by 2012. To capitalise on this predicted growth, a key challenge for online retailers is maintaining and improving standards of fulfilment. Consumers often research online and then call the retailer to buy. Retailers with call centres that can seamlessly fulfil these calls will make more sales in the short term and, more importantly, build brand loyalty for the future in an increasingly cluttered marketplace.
jerry.lloyd-williams@mediacom.com
C4 suffers fall in Easter slump
MediaComment: Channel 4 has seen a year on year fall in share of ABC1 Adult commercial impacts of 16.5% for March. This has been driven by the fact transmission of hit US comedy drama Ugly Betty has been pushed back to Q4 in 2008 and there has been a decline in ratings for key Channel 4 factual programmes such as Time Team, Grand Designs and Relocation, relocation. On a positive note however, C4 has seen great success with food related programming including Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA and Jamie At Home in March 2008. The main beneficiaries of C4's decline in share of ABC1 Adult commercial impacts have been C4's sister stations C4 Digital up 10%, ITV Digital up 22%, Five Digital up 67% and IDS (channels including Dave, Virgin1) up 8%.
C4 & Global Radio explore digital radio partnership
MediaComment: The launch of the second Digital multiplex, which is being managed by C4, could be delayed until 2009 and to try and solve some of the issues, C4 and Global are in talks about combining both Digital One and Two. Global are in the process of completing the £370m take-over of GCAP media and Digital One is included in the sale. Some in the business have questioned the need for a second multiplex with the high cost of distribution putting many people off launching new digital stations. However, C4 have big plans for radio and digital offers them and us as advertisers, a great opportunity to reach new audiences commercially. C4 hope to bring their high quality programming and award winning news format to radio which could help to bring BBC audiences to the commercial arena. The radio market is going through some exciting changes right now and this is all part of it. From a commercial perspective, we hope that C4 succeed in their launch plans as it offers us a chance to reach a new and potentially more upmarket audience on radio which is great news for many advertisers.
