For many universities, developing online technology used to be part of a three to five-year strategic plan to respond to modern learners’ needs. Students said they wanted more flexibility in how, when and where they study – virtual learning can provide this.
The pandemic forced universities to move forward quickly with these longer-term plans. The result was a rapid increase in digital resources and more collaboration with other institutions. This broke down location barriers and broadened reach.
Since the pandemic, not all universities have returned to face-to-face teaching across the board. This has sparked anger among many students, who feel they aren’t getting value for money.
“I’m here to get a degree and I have paid a lot of money for it. I want to feel I’ve been treated fairly. [In lockdown] they didn’t cut the fees, even though we were online. I feel the government could have done more to cut fees, especially for science when you were meant to have contact hours every day and suddenly you had none.”
Katie, third year history student, Queens College, Oxford
For those that were able to access online learning, our study showed there was a strong sense that online tutorials and lectures could not replace the benefits of an in-person university education. Discussions were not as lively in tutor groups, lecturers were not inspiring, there was no sense of community as peers often turned off their cameras, and it was all too easy to step away from the screen. Now, looking back at their notes, students attribute gaps in their learning due to a lack of engagement.
Poor experiences in lockdown don’t mean digital learning is dead. There’s a big difference between the hastily reactive measures implemented in the pandemic and a well-informed, evidence-based, high quality hybrid learning strategy.
Universities are likely to continue delivering virtual materials as part of a hybrid delivery of education that maximises small interactive group learning and teaching in person but removes activities with less interaction, such as lectures. Our research with HEAT, Zero Gravity and students themselves suggests that – crucially – universities must take into account students’ background and experiences when designing hybrid programmes and resources.
We are going to be looking particularly at those courses where we know there are high numbers of students going in where there may be a risk to quality. But we’re also relying on students and others to let us know if they think that quality is slipping and if it is then we will intervene and we will be discussing with universities and colleges what the problems are.
Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of the Office for Students (OfS)
OfS has set out guidelines and resources for learning institutions to help them set access and participation plans with commitments to address equality of opportunity. The open and free data they recommend is helpful, but we believe it’s insufficient. While IMD data is a recognised Government measure, it does not provide an up-to-date picture of deprivation. POLAR and IDACI measure attainment, but don’t explain what lies behind it.
Acorn and other commercial datasets provide vital demographic, lifestyle and behaviour insights that inform these baseline measures. It’s only by blending that universities can get the most from the OfS planning guidance to make informed decisions about how best to work with students.
The plan is to allow students flexibility, but also keeping the strong sense of being part of the university.
Luke Chapman, Head of Widening Participation, King’s College, London
Communication and consultation will be key. Students need to be convinced of the effectiveness and value of a hybrid model. They want their experiences in lockdown to be acknowledged and learned from. They want universities to share evidence that digital resources and teaching actively enhance student outcomes and are not just a way to reduce overheads or increase revenue from remote students.
In our recent paper, CACI’s University Data Team draws together student research, geodemographic data and expert opinion. It highlights priorities in the new post-pandemic world for outreach, admissions and widening participation (WP) leaders. Download the reportto find out how to build a successful WP strategy.
Only if businesses can achieve sustainable cybersecurity and digital inclusion too
Digitalised businesses are onto a win-win – it’s good for corporate reputation, the planet and the environment to stop using paper and resource-consuming processes that create waste, take up storage space and hinder productivity. There are important caveats for doing all that good though: robust security for digital data and accessibility for all.
A well-understood approach to organisational corporate responsibility and sustainability is going paper-free and taking as many interactions and records as possible online. It avoids unnecessary worker travel and cuts the use of paper, postage, deliveries, physical storage and workspace, thereby reducing energy and fuel consumption.
Everyone knows the benefits of paperless offices
Forbes says that the paperless office is “one of the most tangible examples of digitalization that has a positive impact on the environment while also providing major business performance benefits”. It estimates that even now, US businesses waste USD 8 billion on managing paper every year. It’s far more efficient and faster to transact, interact and work digitally.
Covid has accelerated adoption of these practices, as people have adapted rapidly to home-based and distanced working — which is one positive at least from the pandemic. But that means putting a lot more data online.
But hackers have an eye on the main chance. Since the pandemic, criminals have been quick to exploit security vulnerabilities created by a hasty shift to home-working and reactively moving transactional systems online. Recent headlines and share price drops show the impact of losing consumer and shareholder confidence for companies that experience data breaches and vulnerabilities.
Security by design is the gold standard for digitalisation
With so many financial transactions now executed digitally, security and trust are more important than ever to protect people’s money. Many consumers are far more aware and concerned about who is using their data and digital privacy. Building robust transactional apps, systems and data will continue to be crucial for success and reputation. Marketing compliance will need to be effective and transparent.
Security by design is the gold standard for planning, optimising and establishing cloud and digital infrastructure and systems. That means choosing and developing digital platforms and services in the specific context of cybersecurity – from thwarting hackers to back-up and recovery.
It also means that adopting new and more environmentally friendly technologies —from industrial plant equipment to electric cars, remote heating controls and contactless payments — must make digital security a top priority consideration. Hackers are not just delving into poorly password protected bank accounts for financial gain these days. They’re finding ways to hold organisations to ransom by infiltrating property, systems and infrastructure that are remotely and digitally controlled and operated.
On the surface, climate transformation has nothing to do with security. But dig a little deeper and you discover that it has profound implications indeed. The new technologies required for climate transformation will change both how businesses work and how they use technology. Security by design must be applied in order to prevent climate transformation becoming an excuse for greater vulnerability.
Smart organisations plan ahead and ask the right questions
Advanced digital mass security may not come cheap for larger organisations. It’s not just a one-off cost either: security protocols need to be maintained and measured against ISO 27001 and continually updated to mitigate the latest threats. But then there’s the potential risk and cost of neglecting security in any digitalisation solution. Smart businesses plan their budgets realistically and know that market-leading digital operations need to be underpinned by market-leading digital security.
Another important issue for ESG-aware organisations is the footprint of their digitalisation. The more data that’s online in the cloud, the more cloud storage is needed. Data warehouses have a big impact on the environment, not least because they consume so much electricity. Responsible businesses will ask questions of their cloud technology providers about their carbon offsetting and use of renewable energy sources, to maintain their integrity and reputation.
It’s not a good look to leave anyone behind
There’s another issue around digitalisation – and that’s digital inclusion. Consumers who are financially stretched typically don’t have such free access to the latest technology, devices and web access, which can lock them out of the digital environment, either partially or totally. Smartphones are increasingly the default device for managing banking and finances, but not everyone has one.
Income isn’t the only determinant of digital poverty. Location has an impact too: some rural areas struggle to access fast broadband, which can affect wealthier households. Some older citizens are digitally naïve. As well as struggling to access and use digital-only services, they may be more vulnerable to cyber-crime and scams. However good digitalisation may be for the wider environment, excluding less privileged demographics from online services and pricing generates damaging headlines and dissolves consumer loyalty and trust.
Consumer insight provides vital context for digital transformation
Savvy organisations seek insight to help them understand and avoid digital exclusion, using data like CACI’s Vulnerability Indicators. This includes detailed and granular digital vulnerability data that allows organisations to identify people who lack digital knowledge or may have little or no access to technology and the web.
Assessing and planning to enable digital inclusion must be a priority aspect of digitalisation programmes and initiatives. Responsible brands and public organisations need to understand the impact on their entire audience before assuming that the best choice is to move everything online, without exception.
Digitalisation is the right thing to do for the planet – as long as we do it right
There are huge gains to be made for our planet by embracing digitalization, cutting our consumption of the planet’s physical resources and improving efficiency and energy use in everyday life. But organisations must do this in well-considered way, taking into account the new risks and challenges that a fully digital world presents.
Innovative and rigorous digital partners like CACI are constantly surveying and adapting to the latest technologies and cyber-threats and helping companies to digitalise in a robust and responsible way.
To maintain their integrity and reputation, businesses also need to consult and consider their customers and audiences and help them with digital adoption, as well as scrutinising and challenging the environmental practices of their own digital service providers.
If you’d like to know more about optimising processes and energy efficiency through data science or developing waste-reducing digital services and tools that meet current consumer needs, talk to the experts at CACI.
Consumer demand for more sustainable consumer transport is high and market conditions support mainstream EV adoption. What do motor brands, consumer destinations and logistics operators need to know, to make the most of this electrifying opportunity?
In our fourth blog in a regular series focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG), our focus is on electric vehicles – an increasingly common sight on the UK’s roads.
These days it’s not just celebs and influencers who parade their green credentials with their Prius or Tesla. More choice, better charging infrastructure, longer vehicle ranges, affordable finance and fiscal incentives are persuading more and more ordinary consumers to join the EV gang.
Scenes of panic over presumed fuel shortages in autumn 2021 put the growing number of electric vehicle (EV) owners in a strong position. Suddenly, everyone wanted one – showrooms were inundated with enquiries and prospective owners joined waiting lists for test drives and for the privilege of buying new vehicles.
It feels like we’re now at the point of mass adoption, with the 2030 ban on new fossil fuel vehicle sales less than a decade away. Manufacturers, dealerships, fleet operators, drivers and infrastructure owners are all adapting fast to the changing market – what does the future hold and how can data insight help everyone thrive?
Who’s buying EVs?
Government and industry initiatives designed to accelerate EV adoption need to understand differences in consumer opinions and propensity to buy EVs. CACI’s 2021 EV survey shows that age and affluence both influence consumer behaviour – even when they have the means to buy an EV, older consumers are less keen. They tend to be concerned about range, despite typically making shorter journeys. That insight can help to explore the inhibitors and shape messaging to overcome consumer concerns.
We also identified less known benefits that could make EVs more attractive if consumers knew about them.
Only 41% of non-EV owners identified that they could enjoy a quieter ride, compared to 59% of EV owners. And only 28% of EV owners identified lower servicing costs as a plus point
That suggests there’s an opportunity to tell consumers what they could save beyond the obvious cost of refuelling.
Data and insight are invaluable to manufacturers who need to know who to target, both in the way they design new vehicles and the way they promote them. New brands have risen rapidly to take advantage of the global opportunity for more sustainable consumer travel. Few UK consumers had heard of Polestar three years ago – now their cars are a common sight and the brand is well known from TV and digital advertising.
We’ve worked with Mazda to help them tailor content and produce engaging campaigns that appeal to the best audiences for their MX-30 EV. Current, accurate consumer data and granular analytics are key to the “impressive” results Mazda has achieved.
Is the infrastructure keeping pace?
Service stations, retail operators and landlords need to understand the opportunity so they can make the business case to invest in charging points. They need to drill into consumer and market data for EV adoption and understand the impact on their core users and customers.
If these organisations can’t size the demand and provide suitable charging facilities, they risk losing customers to better equipped rival sites. As well as losing revenue, that could depreciate real estate assets. In our EV survey, 55% of respondents said they would be influenced to visit a specific location if it provided an EV charging point.
Energy providers also rely on insight into consumer patterns of EV adoption, so they can plan infrastructure and provision. We’ve recently worked with EDF Energy to help them plan for demand and promote their home charging tariffs. A series of highly targeted campaigns engaged customers who already own or were at the point of purchasing an EV, to provide timely and relevant info and offers.
Have EVs lived up to their promise for early adopters?
Our survey showed that improved range in the latest EVs has supported strong owner satisfaction. As early adopters trade in and trade up, there will be more second-hand vehicles available, allowing more consumers to adopt EVs. EV ownership will be mainstream rather than a novel talking point.
There’s an opportunity for EV brands to focus on the capabilities of the latest EVs, to create a tipping point for hesitant or sceptical prospects.
Marketers who can use data analytics to pinpoint the most resonant messages for different segments and engage them directly will have a distinct advantage.
How much does sustainability really matter to purchasers?
Blanket news coverage around COP-26 has increased public awareness and concern about sustainability still further. This impetus nudges more consumers to look beyond their initial perceptions of EVs, because they want to do their bit for the environment.
Consumer concern has a knock-on effect for the brands and service providers they use. Fleet and logistics operators are responding to growing awareness of the environmental damage from diesel van pollution. Consumers aren’t turning away from home deliveries, but they do want to see more sustainable approaches. Fleet and light commercial vehicles are swelling the EV market. Motor industry body the SMMT shared a recent survey that suggests fleet operators could collectively reduce CO2 emissions by almost a third through a switch to EVs.
What’s next for EV brands and related commercial and consumer sectors?
The EV market is relatively new and very fast-growing. Consumer desire, mainstream infrastructure, government legislation and attractive savings are creating a perfect storm of opportunity for EV brands. Data about customer perceptions and needs is vital for competitive advantage.
Meanwhile, many other sectors need insight into who’s driving what and where, so they can adapt facilities and propositions to make the most of the opportunity. European and global brands and businesses must seek local data, because every market is different.
Despite entreaties to use more public transport, UK consumers love the convenience of their own private vehicles. And for many, the Covid pandemic has made cars feel like a safer option. Responsible EV messaging as well as smart product development and marketing can help take carbon emissions from private and commercial vehicles off our roads and out of city centres.
We anticipate that consumers will want more and more in terms of green accountability from brands and fleet operators – such as understanding the full carbon footprint of manufacture and delivery. They’ll evolve their opinions as their own experience expands. Keeping pace with these expectations and behaviours through reliable and up-to-date consumer insight is key to commanding market share.
If you’d like to know more about acquiring consumer data that can keep your organisation ahead of EV trends and markets in the UK and beyond, talk to our sustainability insight experts at CACI.
There’s a long way to go, but innovative technology is proving key to tackling waste on the global scale needed to protect our planet.
Waste doesn’t just mean physical deposits into landfill. It’s also about overconsumption and excess, from squandering energy or making unnecessary journeys to wasting water or making needless purchases, even if they are supposedly environmentally friendly. Environmental campaigners promote the mantra ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ – if you can avoid demanding, producing and discarding an item in the first place, that means there’s less need to resort to recycling as a third best option.
The will to reduce waste is there and growing among consumers. But they need easy and affordable ways to choose low-waste lifestyles and products. Businesses, governments and service providers are stepping up to the challenge of becoming more efficient and sustainable to enable large-scale change. Everyone’s looking to technology for ground-breaking, digitally enabled approaches to waste reduction.
Convenience is key for consumers to prioritise waste reduction
Phone apps can help consumers to manage their waste. Waste processors like re3 have developed apps that provide information about recycling facilities and let people book visits to recycling centres. Local authorities have developed app-based incentives: in Nottingham, residents can earn points and prizes through the Green Rewards scheme by reducing waste with simple actions, from turning off lights to using public transport or recycling responsibly.
Capsule coffee machine owners can arrange free recycling collections for their used capsules through apps or on websites, making it easy to return rather than binning old capsules from brands including Nespresso and Dolce Gousto.
These are encouraging schemes that help avoid waste going into landfill. But there’s scope to use apps and consumer tech to prevent the creation of waste in the first place. The Scrapp app goes further, giving consumers information about the CO2 they save with each responsible recycling action and helping them reduce waste by understanding the carbon footprint of household items, so they can choose better to waste less of the planet’s resources. It also offers a reward scheme.
Apps help promote reuse as well as recycling
Using more reusable containers within a genuine circular economy, rather than recyclable ones, would cut down on production. Supermarket deliveries might arrive in sturdy bags or crates that consumers would retain until the next visit or drop off at a collection point. Applying tracker device technologies (similar to the Tile or AirTag) could make this viable, avoiding loss and theft and making sure customer deposits were refunded accurately and promptly.
The UK recycling rate for waste from households was 46.2% in 2019
Better planning and analytics help transport organisations cut fuel waste
Commercially and on a much larger scale, technology solutions are helping businesses reduce their consumption of resources, from designing products to use fewer raw materials to cutting down on the energy needed for operations and services.
CACI’s Real-Time Airport system is helping customers in the aviation sector reduce fuel usage. By optimising aircraft movements through algorithms and analytics, Heathrow airport can delay planes starting their engines and cut down on the time they spend queuing before take-off with the engines running.
This has created a massive 10% overall reduction in taxi times at Heathrow – that’s a significant benefit to the environment through reduced fuel burn as well as a better experience for air passengers.
Data modelling can make waste reduction a key factor in overall strategy
Increasingly, organisations will use advanced modelling and simulation to understand the impact of their actions on waste generation. Building in energy and carbon consumption to business models means that companies can shape their strategy and prioritise their activities to minimise waste.
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities can process more and more detailed and subtle information and show in depth the full range of consequences both for waste generation and wasteful use of resources. Companies can promote their low-waste approaches to customers and show the evidence behind their choices. It’s a more innovative and proactive approach to doing things very differently, rather than trying to reform old, wasteful ways of operating.
Digital convenience is key to influencing behaviour and sharing information
Apps, devices and websites use the power of digital media to raise the profile of waste-reduction and nudge consumers into making better choices. Apps like Nest provide information about heating costs and energy consumption then optimise energy usage throughout the day, cutting down on waste in gas and electricity. Utilities companies provide and connect digital smart meters, giving consumers real-time information on resource consumption so they have the power to change their habits to reduce bills and therefore usage.
Community websites and apps (such as Freecycle and Freegle) for passing on consumer goods and appliances locally give consumers a quick way to get rid of unwanted items or meet a need without buying new.
Private messaging protects privacy and means people don’t have to share their address until they’re sure the other person is genuine.
Carrie Johnson and other celebrities have raised the profile of fashion hire through platforms like My Wardrobe HQ, making it cool to rent an outfit for a smart occasion rather than buying new and discarding outfits after one or two wears. High quality digital photography and easy booking through online apps create a frictionless experience that high-end consumers are willing to embrace.
Using fuel more wisely and optimising electric vehicle transit
In travel and transport, ridesharing and public transport e-ticketing and information apps make it easier for customers to travel conveniently without needing to run their own vehicle, cutting down on private fuel usage.
Home delivery services operated on fast and efficient digital platforms cut down on individual journeys to the shops. But they have driven an explosion in courier and commercial delivery services, adding to urban congestion. Leading delivery networks already use logistics technology and data to optimise the efficiency of their delivery fleets, selecting the best routes and delivery sequences to cut down on fuel usage. As electric vehicles become more commonplace, adaptive software is key to planning routes that factor in battery life and charging times.
CACI route optimisation tools typically save clients between 5% and 25% on fuel consumption. The bigger the vehicle fleet, the greater the saving.
Reduce and re-use first and second
Recycling is good, but reducing and reusing are better, when it comes to waste reduction. Consumers and businesses are both tapping into the power of digital apps and data analytics to inform themselves and adopt new approaches that cut consumption of goods and resources.
Already, organisations can achieve substantial reductions in energy consumption and wasted materials by optimising their processes and harnessing technology to eliminate inefficiencies across their operations. Digital innovation makes it possible to combine this approach with user-friendly apps and websites, so it’s easier for customers to understand the impact of their choices and to consume and waste less.
If you’d like to know more about optimising processes and energy efficiency through data science or developing waste-reducing digital services and tools that meet current consumer needs, talk to the experts at CACI.
Understanding which ESG factors are most important to your customer is fundamental to meeting their changing needs. With our newly developed ESG Score, you can identify those customers who are most concerned about ESG issues. Download the product sheet to continue your ESG journey.
Jonathan McDougall-Bagnall is the Planning Innovation and Infrastructure Manager at the University. He explains: “The data project is part of our Contextual Admissions Policy launched several years ago. We are constantly striving to widen access to our institution and ensuring that it remains accessible to all. Historically we have used SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) data and school performance data to identify candidates in Scotland who may require the support of our contextual admissions policy. We wanted to widen this to applicants from around the UK and needed to find suitable equivalent data. Each UK country calculates their index in a slightly different way, so we couldn’t make a direct comparison.”
The solution
The St Andrews team researched the data sources available and concluded that Acorn was the most comprehensive, accurate and current dataset for their needs.
“We use the Acorn postcode database as an integral part of our decision making system, to help us determine which candidates come from areas of deprivation,” says Jonathan. “We have the database and the profiler software, though we mainly use the database directly. The data is simply structured and easy to use, it comes in the same format every year. It’s very straightforward to pull into our systems, because of the consistent format and quality.”
The benefits
Joanna Fry, Access Manager: Widening Access & Transitions, says, “Our admissions system includes codes attributed to socio-economic deprivation and other widening access criteria, drawn from Acorn data and other sources.”
“Both the admissions team and our academic colleagues can now look at students in groups and compare peer groups of those with similar access codes. This gives us vital context to benchmark students from similar environments and circumstances. For example, it can help us interpret the range of exams they’ve taken; the candidate’s school may not have a wide range of subjects on offer. It also can help us understand how personal statements and references are written, depending on the influences and level of support that a candidate may have had.”
We want students with the best potential; the Acorn data helps us identify potential that goes beyond certified grades. We have plenty of evidence to show that students can do extremely well even from constrained academic and teaching backgrounds. If we understand the area and school that candidates come from, alongside their grades, we have a much clearer picture of their ability to perform.
Joanna Fry, Access Manager: Widening Access & Transitions, University of St Andrews
Download the case study
Click here to view the full customer story. To find out more about how CACI can help you support your organisation, please get in touch.
Communities, infrastructure, and demographics are continually evolving. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) needed accurate and reliable data evidence to support continual improvement within the service.
Strategic Analyst Damien Griffith explains:
We wanted to improve our GIS resources to help us understand and improve our understanding of current and emerging community risk. Challenges like an aging population, increased wildfire risks and environmental concerns are well-known at a high level.
The solution
CACI provided SFRS with its Acorn and Household Acorn consumer segmentation tool, supported by advice on how best to use it for delivering targeted insights and outcomes.
Damien says, “We use a GIS approach, combining geographic information from the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase (Gazetteer) with social and demographic data drawn from the Acorn datasets. Using the unique property reference enables us to match Acorn housing types with our own data for five years of fire incidents. We look at these together to identify patterns of risk and vulnerability”.
The benefits
SFRS asks incident response teams to complete a record at the scene, but it’s often not possible to obtain all the information for a comprehensive report at the time. With the Acorn datasets, SFRS can identify the house type and analyse 450,000 household incidents attended in the last five years, to support the modelling and help identify future FRS community risk and associated demand.
Read the case study
You can read the full customer story here. If you have any questions or want to learn more about CACI’s solutions, please get in touch with us.
Will an upswing in the collective consumer conscience suppress spending? Is the force still strong with bargain hunters? We share what we’ve learned this year about your customers’ attitudes and behaviours towards physical and digital retail.
All of our inboxes are overflowing with urgent pleas from retailers to enter the seasonal frenzy of late November purchasing. But consumer champion Which? is warning shoppers to be wary of Black Friday bargains promoted by retailers online and on the high street.
How seriously should we take reported public cynicism about Black Friday? Many retailers and brands are pinning their hopes for a strong year end on UK consumers going big on November deals this year as they plan for an ultra-happy Christmas. As the Sainsbury’s ad says, “It’s been a long time coming, so let’s savour every moment of it.”
But trends for sustainability and localism could make a dent in post-Covid consumer exuberance, along with continued supply chain disruption. Impacts relating to social inequality and digital inclusion are also disquieting citizens and activists around the world.
Will oppositional social media coverage and prickling consumer consciences exert enough pressure to reverse Black Friday’s now traditional spending surge? We take a look at key trends and evidence that will influence 2021’s Black Friday outcomes for retailers and brands.
Do consumers trust the promise of Black Friday bargains?
Brands and retailers are understandably eager to cash in on consumers’ desire to get the most for their money in the run-up to Christmas. But according to Which? research released last week, up to 76% of people who bagged a Black Friday bargain in various categories in 2020 “later regretted these purchases.” Which? retail editor Ele Clark blames “the hype around the sales” for fuelling impulse buying. She raises concerns about the level of debt that some shoppers incur to fund their purchases, from home appliances and DIY kit to homeware and health and beauty.
Which? calls out retail giants including Amazon, John Lewis and ao.com for offering Black Friday prices last year that were higher than at other times before and after Black Friday.
98.5% of over 200 items scrutinised were cheaper or the same price in the six months after Black Friday 2020. The same applied to 92% in the six months before. That information could drive more suspicious shopping behaviour, with consumers taking their time to research deals carefully before hitting ‘buy’.
Sustainability is becoming a mainstream matter
The ethics of short-term promotions and pressure on consumers to make a fast decision aren’t the only controversial aspects of Black Friday.
In the aftermath of the COP26 summit, environmental concerns are becoming mainstream for more consumers. We hear that searches for “sustainable gifts” are up and more customers intend to shop mindfully. This could mean that shoppers will buy fewer gifts, purchase more locally or favour home-made or experience-based gifts that don’t generate carbon emissions through mass production or delivery.
The Make Friday Green Again collective of fashion retailers is taking a stand against what it regards as unhealthy patterns of consumer consumption. Brands that don’t want to take part in Black Friday 2021 are sharing Make Friday Green Again’s messages through a communications pack that hopes to encourage consumers to purchase more sustainably and boycott Black Friday events altogether.
Beyond the fashion sector, up to 85% of independent retailers in the UK are boycotting Black Friday with some going as far as closing down their websites for the day. Others will donate profits to charity or plant trees to help the environment. It’s partly a response to the wasteful over-consumption that Black Friday is perceived to encourage, and partly as a protest against the dominance of online retailers like Amazon.
This trend is not just for small independent retailers. Marks & Spencer and Next are two flagship UK retailers who don’t take part. IKEA too is taking a deliberately different approach, offering 20% extra on their buyback scheme for pre-loved furniture. These actions should appeal to sustainability-minded consumers and could support perceptions of social and environmental responsibility for the brand.
The reality of consumer choices and affordability
Not all your customers will think and act the same way. There are conflicting trends in socially and environmentally conscious behaviours and choices. PWC found that Londoners had the largest appetite in the UK for Black Friday deals in 2019, with more than two thirds planning to spend online. They also typically spend the most. This probably reflects higher average incomes in London. PWC’s latest Consumer Insights report also found that males typically spend more than females, and are more likely to treat themselves on Black Friday 2021 rather than looking for Christmas gifts.
Successful Black Friday retailers will develop a range of targeted messages to match different consumer preferences and intentions.
The stance taken by Which? implies that Black Friday hype can still be persuasive enough to lure unwary shoppers into debt – it’s a bad look for retailers to appear to be targeting consumers who may struggle to repay loans or credit card bills, particularly if the implied savings are not what they seem. That points to a need for nuanced, segmented customer messaging, for a socially responsible impact.
Last-minute disappointment from scarcities and shortages
The shortage of delivery and HGV drivers and shipping delays in the global supply chain have influenced some people to start shopping earlier, reflecting their fears that availability of some consumer goods will be limited.
GlobalData reports that over 40% of consumers believe this will be an issue. This could add to the feverish pressure of limited-time Black Friday promotions and ads, giving customers the sense that it’s their last chance to get their hands on desirable Christmas gifts. Online retailers with a reputation for being trustworthy and transparent about stock and delivery times will have a greater consumer pull.
Glitches and hitches switch customers off Black Friday online
46% said they would stop shopping with a retailer online altogether if their app crashes on Black Friday.
Our experience working with digital retailers bears this out: it’s high-risk to add in new functionality and offers at the last minute unless you’ve thoroughly tested them and have a robust ecommerce platform and data to build on.
Concerns about the robustness and capacity of retailer websites could drive consumers back onto the high street, where they may feel more confident about the face-to-face shopping experience. Nonetheless, John Lewis must be confident in its digital experience, expecting 70% of its Black Friday sales via online channels and just 30% in-store.
What we’ve learned… so far
Debate rages about which of the competing trends will be most influential and we look forward to seeing the commercial results for leading brands, revealing the success or otherwise of their 2021 Black Friday approach.
Our verdict for now:
Black Friday 2021 will still engage many consumers. More and more brands will consider the sustainability implications of promotions and will do what they can to reassure customers that they’re controlling waste and carbon emissions
Canny consumers will do their research before succumbing to email hyperbole and Black Friday countdowns
Retailers who offer genuine value and a consistent digital and in-store customer experience will do best from the event, not just on the day but in building lasting loyalty
Organisations who can track and review customer behaviour after the event will have valuable learnings to draw on for future promotional events and Black Fridays to come.
If you’d like to share your views on Black Friday or to talk to us about how data and tech can help your organisation deliver effective promotions and sustainable customer experiences, please get in touch.
For some years Tesco analysts have used map data from CACI to help define store delivery catchment areas. They have also used data from CACI to help them understand where the uptake of the company’s home delivery service was likely to be highest.
Latterly Tesco.com, Britain’s biggest grocery home shopping retail business, has introduced a new, more advanced routing and scheduling system to plan home deliveries by its fleet of over 2,000 vans; and in the light of its established relationship with CACI, the retailer again turned to the company to supply appropriate digital map data for both the UK and Ireland.
The solution
To work on this software, CACI has supplied Tesco with map content: Premium vector street-level map data, which includes essential routing information such as one-way streets, banned turns and address ranges. It has also supplied Andes raster mapping, which is derived from the HERE data and provides a visually pleasing version of the data for display and presentational purposes.
Tesco.com generally delivers to homes from 8am right through to 11pm from Monday to Friday, as well as up to 10pm at weekends, so it is vital for the company to be able to route its vehicles to take account of changing traffic speeds and flows at different times of day and at weekends.
CACI has therefore also supplied Tesco.com with Traffic Patterns, a data set that contains average traffic speed on individual road segments, calculated from past traffic flow measurements and differentiated by time of day and day of the week.
The benefits
Digital map data assembled, prepared and formatted by CACI (formerly Mapmechanics) is playing a key role in the continuing expansion of Tesco.com.
According to Ben Dito Smith, the Location Strategy and Analysis Manager for Tesco.com : “Efficient, timely delivery is a fundamental feature of our home shopping proposition, so it is essential for us to use the most appropriate software and data available for our delivery planning system.”
He adds:
We have found that CACI is very well equipped to provide exactly the mapping and demographic data we need. The CACI team are responsive and helpful when it comes to advising on the best products for our requirements, and good at supplying the data in an appropriate format.
Tesco.com delivers to consumers’ homes from larger retail stores and from a small number of specially designed dotcom stores. The home shopping business on its own now turns over more than £2 billion.
Certas Energy, the UK’s largest fuel distributor to consumers and industry needed mapping that is in tune with the times, and they were keen to work with a partner who not only offered the software they wanted, but would also provide training and ongoing support to ensure they get the optimum benefit from their investment.
The Solution
The company reports a dramatic improvement in the ability to plot and analyse sales performance and trends visually since starting to use the Geoxploit suite from digital mapping and geospatial data specialist allmapdata from CACI.
Geoxploit, a cost-effective, powerful and easy-to-use mapping analysis tool, has been created by allmapdata to give users a flying start in performing striking and meaningful location-based analysis. At its core is Geoconcept, one of the world’s most widely used geographic information systems. This is backed by a selected range of data that makes possible a variety of key analytical processes out of the box, along with a variety of pre-configured analytical processes.
The benefits
“Geoxploit makes it really easy to import our own data,” says Samuel Bradford. “Inevitably there were initial challenges, but a day’s training at allmapdata got us going, and since then the allmpadata team has been endlessly supportive. Nothing seems to be too much trouble for them.”
He says Geoxploit’s visualisation capability is invaluable in building internal presentations, helping both with tactical decision-making and in planning and formulating policy. Results of analysis can be colour-coded or otherwise differentiated on a map in ways that are much quicker to assimilate than columns of figures.
“For example, we can analyse the way different fuel types are selling in different parts of the country. We can plot areas where our sales volumes are changing, either looking across the whole business or focusing on different product types. We can drill right down to postcode area level to check whether sales performance is mirroring our strategy, or whether we need to modify it.”
Such has been the impact of Geoxploit’s visualisation capability, Samuel says, that it has raised the level of expectation within the company.
Geoxploit’s ability to present data in a map-based context really brings it to life. We’ve never had access to this kind of visualisation before. It’s so much easier to convey growth or change in market performance vividly on a map than in text and figures
Samuel Bradford, Marketing Analyst at Certas Energy
The Harlequin Group, a consultancy specialising in planning and site acquisition for organisations in the telecommunications and public utility sectors, carried out the geocoding of potential locations using open-source mapping in conjunction with various other data layers, but found that the results were not always as precise as it would have liked.
The solution
Harlequin now uses HERE satellite imaging, terrain and hybrid map layers when conducting site searches. “The satellite imaging is particularly useful,” Simon says. “It’s always important for us to discover land ownership, and HERE is invaluable in displaying context. The clear detailed images make it much easier to see the precise location of possible sites.”
The searches are conducted by means of map references; then the map layers can be turned on or off to display the right details.
The benefits
The company has significantly sped-up and improved the accuracy of its site search process since using the HERE digital mapping and location intelligence platform supplied by CACI. The HERE location platform offers detailed, online street-level mapping, aerial photography and geocoding across the world. Maps and postcodes are constantly updated so that the latest data is always available and ready to be integrated into users’ own applications. CACI is one of the longest-standing distributors of HERE mapping, and has extensive experience in specifying and configuring the most appropriate HERE products for individual customer requirements. Harlequin specialises in conducting searches on behalf of organisations such as mobile phone networks seeking new sites for masts or other equipment. It has also been involved in research for a Government initiative to fill in “not spots” where mobile phone signals are very poor.
Following criteria specified by its customer, the company identifies possible sites within a chosen area – which might typically cover 2km – and then checks to find out whether that area has any features that might prevent the installation from going ahead.
We decided that the HERE platform looked like a much better alternative, and when we approached the HERE people, they referred us to CACI as the distributor. The recommendation paid off, because the CACI team has turned out to be really helpful and supportive, and even provided the system to us for a month’s trial.
