Fuel costs in the UK.
There are 31 million cars on the road in the UK, Ever wondered how much we spend a day on fuel?
I had a go at calculating the answer…..
(Based on the following averages)
So here goes – this is what we spend a day on fuel….
How does this compare to the USA? (based on 31m cars! I know they have more)
Edit 14/04/2012 – I stumbled on this infographic, depicting costs of fuel in the US. In comparison the UK is just over $9 dollars a gallon
This Valentine, Cupid went mobile!
What do Valentine’s Day and the December Holidays have in common? If you look past gifts, romance and loved ones the answer may surprise you: mobile shopping
Having spent a great deal of time over the last two months dissecting the influence of the empowered consumer. Throughout that time, the conversation has focused primarily on the emergence of the mobile shopper. By seeing more info here, you will gain some tips and ideas on how to shop online wisely!
Now just more than six weeks into the new year, we are thrilled to report that mobile shopping remains a staple of the retail landscape whether through an iPhone, iPad or an Android device. Specifically in an analysis of online shopping the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, the IBM online Benchmark study found that 14.5 percent of all online sessions on a retailer’s site were initiated from a mobile device. As for sales, 10.1 percent of all online sales for the week before the Valentine’s Day holiday came through a mobile device.
Sound familiar? Well it should. These figures for both traffic and sales are almost identical to what we saw over the recent Christmas holiday where traffic and sales were 14.6 percent and 11 percent respectively. What this tells us is that the mobile shopping habits witnessed over the November and December holidays are not fleeting. They’re actually quite the opposite. A permanent change is in affect with the empowered consumer turning to mobile devices not just for blockbuster shopping days but for all holidays and shopping occasions in between. Mobile shoppers also have the advantage of being able to Compare amazon prices in Italy to ensure they’re getting the best deals.
For Valentine’s Day, the influence of m-Commerce was perhaps most prevalent in several key verticals where mobile sales from mobile devices were up dramatically from last year:
- Jewelry and Intimate Apparel: A record number of consumers made impulse buys via their mobile devices with mobile sales of jewelry and intimate apparel growing to 28.8 percent and 17.7 percent respectively.
- Health and Beauty: Shoppers continued to demonstrate a desire to pamper their loved ones with mobile sales of health and beauty items (lotions, fragrances and more) growing to 15.1 percent, an increase from less than 4 percent in 2011.
Valentine’s shoppers also showed a similar pattern when it came to device preferences:
- Apple’s iPhone and iPad ranked one and two for mobile device retail traffic (5.5 percent and 4.9 percent respectively). Android was third at 4.4 percent. Collectively iPhone and iPad accounted for 10.4 percent of mobile device retail traffic so far this month.
It’s exciting to see the promise of mobile remains strong and I cannot wait to see how it continues to influence both shoppers and retailers as we move forward. As for now it’s safe to say that Valentine’s Day shopping has evolved from the standard box of chocolates.
IBM Benchmark Christmas season report
reveals the following trends:
December 2011 Compared to December 2010 (year/year)
- Consumer Spending Increases: Online sales were up 5.4 percent over 2010.
- Mobile Traffic: 15 percent of all online sessions on a retailer’s site were initiated from a mobile device, up from 5.6 percent over this same period in 2010—an increase of 169 percent.
- Mobile Sales: Sales from mobile devices grew, reaching 12.9 percent versus 4.5 percent in December 2010—an increase of 186.5 percent.
- The Apple Shopper: Apple’s iPhone and iPad ranked one and two for mobile device retail traffic (6.4 percent and 4.7 percent respectively). Android was third at 3.6 percent. Collectively iPhone and iPad accounted for 11.1 percent for the month.
- The iPad Factor: Shoppers using the iPad also continued to drive more retail purchases than any other device with conversion rates reaching 6.1 percent compared to 3.8 percent for all mobile devices.
“This Christmas shopping season has been characterised by consumers looking for deals and increasingly using their mobiles to shop online,” said Andrew Jackson-Proes, Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) leader for UK & Ireland, IBM. “The report demonstrates that retailers can really benefit from Smarter Commerce initiatives by meeting their customers’ expectations for offers and service via any device.”
Source
These early Christmas season findings are based on data from IBM Coremetrics Benchmark, the only analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including real-time sales data. All of the data is aggregated and anonymous.
Coremetrics Benchmark uses IBM’s cloud-based digital analytics platform to rapidly collect and analyse intelligence on how consumers are responding to the products and services being offered to them, enabling clients to make accurate decisions on marketing expenditures. As a result, marketing teams can gain deeper insight about their consumers and present personalised recommendations, promotions and other sales incentives across the wide variety of channels—including social networks and mobile devices—where consumers interact with their brands.
More information on Smarter Commerce can be found at:
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/uk/en/smarter_commerce/overview/index.html
Outstanding technology + Innovative business plan = Winner of IBM SmartCamp London
Profitero has been named as the winner of the 2011 IBM (NYSE: IBM) SmartCamp London. They help retailers maximise profits by analysing online competitive information on thousands of products and dozens of competitors, helping to build smarter retail solutions. Profitero was selected from more than 80 entries and won due to its outstanding technology, innovative business plan and alignment with IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy. They will receive three months of mentoring from IBM and go on to square off against other SmartCamp winners from around the globe to compete for the title of “IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Today, 83 percent of midmarket CIOs surveyed by IBM have identified analytics, the ability to extract actionable insights from “Big Data” as their top-priority investment area. Profitero represent a new generation of entrepreneurs who are entering the market with technology and business model designed to capitalise on this trend.
“We are delighted to have won the London IBM SmartCamp award for 2011 and are looking forward to working with IBM on delivering completive intelligence to retailers and manufacturers.” said Volodymyr Pigrukh, CEO and Co-Founder of Profitero.
Business Minister, Mark Prisk, said: “Congratulations to Profitero. Businesses continually tell us they want to get advice from other experienced business people and we know that those seeking support are more likely to succeed.
“Innovative projects such as this one are very encouraging because they bring together entrepreneurs wit h venture capitalists, academics and other industry leaders to provide coaching and critical industry support and advice. This will enable growing businesses to gain the mentoring and insight needed to continue to drive growth and innovation in their markets.
Now you may be asking, why do ambitious companies need business coaching? Mentoring or coaching can deliver significant economic benefits from just a small commitment of time and resources. Building a relationship with a mentor can have a positive effect on your business, whether you are just starting up or are already established.
“Entrepreneurs are critical to driving the next era of innovation and growth. I’ve been hugely impressed by the range and quality of startups we’ve seen entering the London IBM SmartCamp programme this year. Congratulations to Profitero and all the finalists. They’ve showcased solutions that seize major growth opportunities in the market to help make the world work smarter.” said Stephen Leonard, Chief Executive, IBM UK & Ireland.
All the finalists in the London SmartCamp are developing new technologies in critical areas such as healthcare, energy and environment, and other services that improve the life of citizens around the globe. IBM SmartCamps bring together innovative entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, academics and other industry leaders to provide coaching and critical industry support and advice.
Driving economic growth
Small and medium sized companies have long been the engines driving economic growth. They are responsible for nearly 65 percent of the global GDP – representing more than 90 percent of all businesses and employing over 90 percent of the world’s workforce. This group of entrepreneurial companies faces stiff competition, not only in their local markets, but also with larger enterprises across an increasingly global marketplace. (Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation). The IBM SmartCamps are designed to provide these entrepreneurs with the mentoring and insight needed to continue to drive growth and innovation in their markets.
In addition to Profitero, 2011 London SmartCamp Finalists included:
· PageHub, a young and fast moving company based in Brighton. They have developed an easy to use, powerful analytics tool for brands to more effectively manage their presence on Facebook and other social media sites.
· Radisens Diagnostics whose analytics device platform is helping to drive a step change towards a single device for point-of-care medical testing, helping to build smarter healthcare systems.
· RSM, the creators of FITS, an analytical and traffic management software system for cities, helping to build smarter transport systems.
· Visible Light Communications Ltd, a spin-out company from the University of Edinburgh. They are developing smart lighting driven by high efficiency LEDs, which delivers high speed data communications over visible light.
Visible Light Communications Ltd won the People’s Choice Award.
About IBM Global Entrepreneur Programme:
www.ibm.com/isv/startup
About Profitero:
www.profitero.com
About PageHub:
www.pagehub.co.uk
UK Retailers must prepare for mobile and social media Christmas rush
Sales driven by social media, and mobile retail are both set to play a bigger role in this year’s Christmas shopping season according to the IBM Coremetrics 2011 UK Christmas Season Readiness Report.
Using data gathered from more than 150 contributing UK retailers, IBM predicts that mobile traffic as a percentage of all retail site visits will hit double figures by Christmas 2011, having grown from just over 4 per cent to 7.2 per cent between November 2010 and May 2011. In the same time period, the contribution of mobile as a per cent of all online site sales nearly doubled, from 3.2 per cent to 6.1 per cent, which suggests further growth for mobile as a sales channel is likely in the run-up to Christmas.
The benchmark also found that mobile users exhibit a trend for fewer page views (5.8 compared with an average of 8.4, across all means of going online), spend less time on websites (4 minutes and 13 seconds, versus 6 minutes and 24 seconds across all means of going online) and display higher bounce rates to other sites (39.6 per cent compared with 32.8 per cent).
“Despite the attractiveness of engaging with customers on the move, mobile brings with it unique considerations and challenges,” said Marcel Holsheimer, global marketing executive for Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) for IBM. “Using a mobile device to browse, compare prices, check availability and store locations or make a purchase is convenient for the consumer, which can translate into significant conversion opportunities – but only if the etailer delivers a compelling mobile experience. Etailers therefore need to monitor and optimise the mobile browsing experience to counteract mobile users’ tendency for short and erratic periods online.”
Social media contribution to retailer site traffic also grew consistently during the 7 months covered by the report.
From a social media perspective, users behave in a more efficient manner in terms of sales conversion. They are twice as likely to convert, at an average rate of 11 per cent versus 6 per cent overall. This conversion rate, when viewed in conjunction with other behaviour, also suggests social users are more receptive to offers. Their high bounce rate of nearly 62 per cent, coupled with a low average time spent on the websites of just over 3 minutes, suggests they are responding to social media-only offers – such as Facebook coupons or exclusive offers advertised on Twitter.
“With the recession still very much front of mind, many savvy e-shopper are buying surgically,” said Holsheimer, “They know what they want and can hone in on it with far less browsing than in previous years. Smart etailers still have time to step up and expand their mobile and social networking platforms in time for this year’s festive season, as way to deepen engagement with their prized customers, strengthen their long-term loyalty – and, convert sales via the customer’s personal channel of choice.”
The IBM Coremetrics 2011 UK Christmas Readiness Report is available to download in full here http://measure.coremetrics.com/corem/getform/reguk/holiday2011-wp
About IBM Coremetrics Benchmark
The findings in this press release is based on data collected by Coremetrics Benchmark between November 2010 and May 2011. Coremetrics Benchamrk captures online marketing results and commerce data from more than 150 contributing UK retailers.