- Brand trust is the lead characteristic that influences purchases, closely followed by free delivery and discount codes
- Bargain Britain: nearly half seek out discount codes before buying anything and 28% wait for a saving before spending over £100
- Turn-offs for shoppers include: brands sending 7+ emails a week, unsubstantiated claims and talking politics
- Average discount needed to entice shoppers revealed as 13%
Intuit Inc. , the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, today released a new report, “Brand Trust In the Age of Information Overload”, which focuses on the evolving relationship between brand and customer, consumer spending motivations, and how businesses can best connect with them in today’s climate. Sourced from a survey of 10,000 consumers across nine countries—including 1,500 in the UK—the results revealed that brand trust and connection (46%) is the number one factor that drives sales with British shoppers.
The report also identified other primary characteristics consumers look for when making purchasing decisions: free delivery (44%), regular discount codes and rewards (43%), excellent customer service (40%), free returns (38%) and quick shipping (35%). The results differed greatly across the generations surveyed. For those aged over 65 the key purchase drivers were trust (61%), free delivery (54%) and excellent customer service (51%), whereas those aged 18 to 24 were led by discounts (32%) and humour (29%).
And while the report underlines a handful of insight-informed tactics to roll out, it also pinpoints marketing mishaps to avoid. Some of the top reasons that lead UK consumers to unsubscribe from brand emails include repetitive or unimaginative emails (45%), unsubstantiated claims about brand purpose (38%), biased/partisan commentary on social or political issues (35%) and if they can’t view an email properly on their device (34%). Findings also reveal the quantity threshold: British consumers will unsubscribe if a brand sends more than seven emails per week.
“Never has it been more challenging for British businesses to build trust with and engage their customers, and this is reflected in our latest research,” said Jim Rudall, Head of EMEA at Intuit Mailchimp. “Brands are working in demanding times: bountiful competition and noise, alongside economic and social factors like inflation and customer expectations regarding ethics and values. It’s hard for marketers to decipher how they can make meaningful connections with their customers and drive revenue. Our latest report delivers data-led strategies for consideration – and these, alongside a powerful email and marketing automation platform will allow brands to carry out hyper-personalised marketing at scale. With the vast majority of consumers (60%) welcoming greater personalisation – both parties have the potential to win.”
Despite trust coming out on top, nearly a third (32%) of shoppers have started trusting in brands less amidst the rise of misinformation. So, with trust on the decline but its importance ever-paramount, what can brands do to instil this from the outset, and maintain it?
Marketers can build trust and drive sales with these data-led marketing tactics:
Focus on quality service: A proven track record of excellent customer service ranks highly as a driver for both purchases and engagement. This ranked higher in importance for older generations, with over half (51%) of those aged over 65 versus just one in five aged 18 to 24 saying it was a primary purchasing factor.
Ask for data and provide value: While four in five shoppers need to be assured by brands that they’re using their data responsibly, nearly half (46%) are happy to share it with brands they trust. However, more than three-fifths (62%) want to see more value and greater personalisation in exchange for sharing data, and only just over a third (36%) feel they’re currently seeing the value of doing so. So while personalisation has some way to go, it’s encouraging to hear that more than one in three mentions it’s currently stopping them from “missing out on products” and that they are being shared information “they’re genuinely interested in”.
Galvanise brand advocates: The report revealed word-of-mouth recommendations via friends and family as the most trusted endorsements (48%), followed by customer testimonials and reviews (32%) – both much higher than content creators and influencers (10%). These findings underline the real value of brand advocates—true unbiased, unpaid fans. The brand can benefit not only from fan’s repeat purchases, but also from their authentic followings purchases (and perhaps advocacy, too). A marketing-savvy way to harness this push power and incentivise and reward can be through recommend-a-friend schemes. It’s worth underlining that a key way to restore brand trust when lost is through customer testimonials, as well (50%).
Communicate transparently: For British consumers, the primary way to rebuild brand trust when lost is through transparency of company actions (51%). Notably, in the face of inflation, nearly the same percentage of shoppers who stayed loyal to a brand that lowered or locked its prices (46%) stayed loyal to a brand that raised its prices transparently (43%).
Live up to brand promise: The report reveals the two (joint) most important factors that significantly impact purchasing decisions for shoppers are “a company with values to match my own” (31%) and “a company that clearly has a strong brand identity: visual, written and substance”, so spending time on brand-building content to underline company ethics can quite literally pay off. Findings show that on the whole, customers care more about sustainability than affordability. 26% said they were more inclined to buy from a brand that has a positive impact on the environment, versus 15% that said they were more inclined to buy from a brand that is affordable but less sustainable.
Leverage smart discount strategies: Discount codes are an unequivocal sales driver. Nearly half of UK consumers (45%) will look for a discount code before making any online purchase, and over a quarter (28%) will delay purchases over £100 until they can get money off. But while discount codes support customer purchases and engagement, they eat away at a company’s profit. The Mailchimp report reveals the discount sweet spot for British shoppers: 13%. This is the average lowest site-wide discount that would entice shoppers to click through to the website to explore potential purchases.
Jim continues: “As customers evolve, marketers today have a chance to evolve with them, forging long-lasting relationships that reward those on both sides of the shop window. Brands who prioritise knowing their customers and delivering on their brand promise and values will seek the trust—and rewards— they’re after.”
About the research:
The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research, on behalf of Mailchimp in February 2024 using an email invitation and an online survey. The survey was conducted among 10,000 consumers in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Of that 10,000, 1,500 were UK consumers. The figures in this specific press release focus on the UK findings only.
About Intuit Mailchimp:
Intuit Mailchimp is an email and marketing automation platform for growing businesses. We empower millions of customers around the world to start and grow their businesses with world-class marketing technology, award-winning customer support, and inspiring content. Mailchimp puts data-backed recommendations at the heart of your marketing, so you can find and engage customers across email, social media, landing pages, and advertising—automatically and with the power of AI. In 2021, Mailchimp was acquired by Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp.
About Intuit:
Intuit is the global financial technology platform that powers prosperity for the people and communities we serve. With approximately 100 million customers worldwide using products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to prosper. We never stop working to find new, innovative ways to make that possible. Please visit us at Intuit.com and find us on social for the latest information about Intuit and our products and services.
