10427 The Retailer Autumn 2018_Final Draft Pages

At the same time, the capital has enjoyed the fastest growth in online sales at 14.6%, more than 3% ahead of the next best performing locations. London now accounts for nearly a quarter of all online purchases. The Black Friday factor Customer transaction data also shows the influence of Black Friday on shopping behaviour in the run-up to the festive season, making it the biggest UK single fashion retail event of the year. While some retailers may bemoan the impact of the annual pre-Christmas sales splurge on margins, Barclays’ analysis shows that the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend saw sales up 4.3% in 2017, with a 14% increase in average customer value compared to the rest of the year. This highlights the significant challenge that retailers face in planning their Black Friday and other seasonal promotions to drive sales through multiple channels while maintaining margins. Harnessing the power of transaction data insights In such a fluid market, fashion retailers need to be more agile than ever to adapt to changing customer behaviour. By harnessing the power of transaction data, Barclays Market and Customer Insights can provide a detailed picture of fashion customer preferences based on real spending behaviour. This can help retailers gain a comprehensive understanding of key customer demographics or spending patterns down to postcodes across the UK. This insight can be used to inform store location decisions and plan seasonal promotions. It can also give retailers the information they need to match their promotions to customer activity by day of the week and time of day, and compare them to industry norms. These powerful insights, based on actual spending, can help retailers succeed in challenging times. Visit insights.uk.barclays/MCI to read our full fashion retail report.

Raj Pattni // Contact-MCI@barclays.com // insights.uk.barclays/MCI/

the retailer | autumn 2018 | 35