Annual Trends Survey 2013
Brick-and-Mortar Spending Rises Sharply in 2012
Continuing a theme found throughout the survey, brick-and-mortar stores remain a viable channel for cross-channel retailers. Respondents upped their marketing spend in the channel in 2012 over 2011. Nearly 38 percent of respondents said they spent more than 40 percent of their marketing budget on retail stores in 2012, compared to just 31 percent who did so in 2011.
In addition to increased spending on brick-and-mortar stores, retailers allocated more money to social media in 2012 than the previous year. Close to 13 percent of respondents spent more than 40 percent of their marketing budget on social media in 2012, compared to just 9.5 percent who did so in 2011.
Catalogs, both of the print and digital variety, also saw a larger share of marketers' budgets in 2012. While print catalogs remain relevant, they saw a more modest increase in budget allocation last year. Digital catalogs, on the other hand, appear to have gone mainstream in 2012, with 21.9 percent of respondents spending more than 20 percent of their marketing budget on the channel vs. just 12 percent who did so in 2011.
As for the areas where marketers cut spending last year, direct mail took the biggest hit, followed by tablet-optimized websites and e-commerce sites. The survey revealed that marketers focused more on mobile apps last year than mobile websites, with spending on apps rising.
Maybe 2013 is the Year of Mobile
It is if we're looking at retailers planned spending on the channel this year. Growing consumer adoption of tablets (which are segmented as mobile devices by some retailers and not by others) last year didn't go unnoticed by retailers. Nearly 22 percent of respondents plan to spend more than 20 percent of their marketing budget in 2013 on a tablet app, compared to just 5.2 percent who did so last year. Furthermore, spending on tablet-optimized websites this year will be increasing significantly as well, according to the survey.
Retailers aren't forgetting about smartphones, however. Upwards of 22 percent of retailers will be allocating more than 20 percent of their marketing budget to mobile-optimized websites this year, up from 13.7 percent who did so in 2012. And 14.3 percent of respondents said they'd spend between 40 percent to 100 percent of their marketing budget on mobile apps in 2013, compared to just 2.4 percent who did the same in 2012.
In fact, only two marketing channels — telemarketing and affiliate marketing — are forecast to see a drop in budget allocation this year. That said, three print-based channels — print catalogs, print ads and direct mail — will only be seeing slight increases in marketing dollars this year.
Digital Spending to Rise, Print to Fall
This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that's been paying attention to what's going on in the retail industry over the last several years. More expensive and harder-to-attribute print campaigns, from ads in magazines to direct mail pieces have been falling out of favor with retailers, while digital initiatives such as email programs, social media campaigns and optimized websites have become more popular.
This year's survey results reflect that industry trend. More respondents (52.9 percent) said they expect to increase their promotional spending on their website than any other channel. A slew of other digital channels also will see increased promotional spending from retailers in 2013, including social media (35.3 percent of respondents), email (31.4 percent), SEO/SEM (26.8 percent) and mobile-optimized websites (23.5 percent).
On the flip side, traditional print channels will be forced to produce more with less in 2013. Close to 23 percent of respondents said they're budgeting less for print ads in 2013, while 21 percent will be cutting their print catalog budget. Direct mail is another area that will see less promotional spending this year, as will traditional marketing vehicles TV and radio.
