UK shoppers abandon retailers that charge for returns

More than a quarter (26%) of Brits have switched from a brand they were once loyal to due to the introduction of paid returns, according to the latest research from SAP Emarsys.

The study, released ahead of the Shoptalk retail tradeshow, reveals that 18% of UK consumers actively describe the introduction of returns charges as “unfair”; 13% have even thrown away an unwanted item after failing to return it.

With almost half (49%) of shoppers abandoned a brand they were...

Consumers believe ESG should be a mandatory practice

While the majority of consumers believe that Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) should be a mandatory practice for UK businesses, less than a third (32%) believe it is undertaken to make a positive change, with companies focussing on ESG of business gain alone.

This is according to research by digital identity specialists, ID Crypt Global. Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) is a set of standards designed to measure a business’s impact on...

Qudo democratises data-powered marketing with ‘freemium’ research platform 

New entrant to the burgeoning martech sector, Qudo, has launched its flagship Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform.

Through its unique data-driven approach, Qudo unlocks consumer insights for marketers in a cost-effective way, alleviating the impact of data protection regulations and browser cookie controls in the process. 

Its launch signals an important step in the democratisation of data-powered marketing, according to Qudo. While, historically, such...

Braze native WhatsApp messaging helps build customer relationships

Someone using WhatsApp on their phone.

Braze, a customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands, has made native support for messaging channel WhatsApp generally available.

Through this direct integration with WhatsApp, which had more than two billion active users as of 2022, marketers will be able to create, orchestrate, and send WhatsApp campaigns directly from the Braze platform to strengthen customer relationships with context-rich conversational messaging that can drive...

Businesses are losing customers due to disjointed digitisation

Digitisation efforts begun in the pandemic must now be reconciled in light of today’s customer needs, according to the findings of research released by customer engagement platform Twilio.

The study has uncovered how businesses’ digital acceleration in 2020 has led to a wealth of channels that now need to be consolidated into nuanced, personalised customer engagement strategies in response to today’s consumer needs. With customer retention a crucial metric amid economic...

74% of marketers embrace simplification amid economic downturn

Clevertouch Marketing, a martech consulting and service provider, has revealed the results of its latest annual State of Martech research.

In partnership with the University of Southampton Business School, a world top 100 university (QS World University Rankings 2022), Clevertouch surveyed more than 650 senior marketers across the UK, EMEA and USA to create a picture of the current state of the martech landscape.

Key findings:

Marketers are increasingly turning...

Brightcove launches ad monetisation service

A stack of coins.

Streaming technology company Brightcove has launched Brightcove Ad Monetization, a bespoke service designed for media companies to better monetise their content.

To supplement the service, the company also created a new global advertising operations team to support media organisations and help them maximise their advertising strategy and revenue.

Marc DeBevoise, CEO of Brightcove, said: “Advertising-supported streaming is a fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar business...

HubSpot CRM introduces AI-powered tools to boost productivity

HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, today announced the launch of two new tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) - content assistant and ChatSpot.ai - to help its customers save time while creating better connections with their audiences.

The introduction of content assistant and ChatSpot.ai builds on HubSpot’s earlier investments in AI including conversation intelligence, data quality tooling, data...

74% of marketers embrace simplification and sustainability

Clevertouch Marketing, a martech consulting and service provider, has revealed the results of its latest annual State of Martech research, the only dedicated study into the martech industry.

In partnership with the University of Southampton Business School, a world top 100 university (QS World University Rankings 2022), Clevertouch surveyed more than 650 senior marketers across the UK, EMEA and USA to create a picture of the current state of the martech landscape.

Key...

Yext launches ‘first CMS that generates its own content’

A notepad full of text.

Yext, the Answers Company, has added content generation to its Knowledge Graph product.

Yext believes that the Knowledge Graph is the first content management system on the market that automatically and proactively generates its own content. The company has been running a year-long pilot with several customers and plans to officially launch Content Generation in March with Yext’s Spring 2023 Release.

Content Generation uses multiple large language models...