UK brands are 'not effectively targeting consumers online'

The market researcher, although still preparing to officially release the study, revealed that less than half (47%) of prestige brands in its' Index were found to provide gift guides on their site.

The figure further drops to 11% for mass brands, and as 50% of UK shoppers are reported to get their ideas for Christmas gifts through online search, L2 says brands are missing out on online and brick-and-mortar sales opportunities.

The 2015 Digital IQ Index Beauty | UK, soon to be published, focuses on the gift season, which the firm attributes to about a third of annual beauty sales. In 2013, those sales were broken down into 36% for online purchases and 28% offline.

However, Clarins and Aveda are among the exceptions...​

While L2 says UK brands are not effectively targeting consumers, Clarins and Aveda were found to be among the exceptions who have invested in capturing the attention of holiday gift-givers.

Clarins has a wish list feature promoted on its social channels, and encourages browsers to complete a transaction by advertising a “festive gift” with purchase, while Aveda invested in a YouTube video as part of its holiday campaign, placed prominently on its homepage.

In terms of category breakdown, fragrances not surprisingly, were the most popular to give as a gift, with 45% of the year’s online sales and 37% of brick-and-mortar sales occurring in December.

'Clicks verses bricks'​

According to expert opinion, tomorrow’s successful retail experiences will depend on the complete multi-channel experience.

"We need to stop thinking about digital marketing and start thinking about marketing in a digital world​," Marc Mathieu, global SVP of marketing at Unilever, said a year ago at the Global Marketers Conference. "Think about connection first and build content around that​."

Craig R. Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consulting and research firm, agreed.

“An Apple store doesn’t just exist to sell iPads and MacBook Pros; it exists to create a brand experience that builds loyalty, brand and buzz​,” he told the New York Times last year. “The Internet is emotionally a very flat experience. It can never match the experience of being there in person​.”

It looks like tomorrow’s brands will privilege neither bricks nor clicks: the most successful campaigns will rely on a synergy of both.