During the past five months, we have been tracking the UK’s perception of brands across various sectors to uncover their performance on trust and likeability, and their overall response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The only sector showing a decrease in consumer trust is retail, down 2%, probably due to the difficulties in maintaining a stable in-store presence and low customer footfall.

Source: Rare: Consulting. UK adults 18+. Data collected between 7th April and 18th October 2020 (N=8,929). Those aware of the brand: three months’ moving average centered on the reference month. Average base in Retail (N=7,861), Grocery (N=6,484), Telco (N=7,434), Banking (N=6,734).

Response To Coronavirus Pandemic

The sector that has been most stable in providing a perceived good response to COVID-19 (30% from June to August). This might be due to the fact that stores and e-commerce were able to respond well to customers need by maintaining safety and efficiency, despite a record level of closure with more than 11,00 stores closing in the first half of 2020 (Source: Forbes) and decline in sales, in the last eight months falling by 6% overall (Source: Insider). This will be tested during the approached festive season and we will monitor the changes, publishing the results at the end of the year.

The sector has decreased in likeability between May and July, but showed a stable trend from August to September. The best performing brands in the retail sector are:

Argos

The graph shows that Argos is the most-liked retail brand during the pandemic up to now. Argos was bought by Sainsbury’s in 2014 and earlier this year, the grocery chain designed and executed a “single-minded” digital marketing strategy to surgically target customers and create a single customer experience (Source: The Drum), which heavily relies on customer data. The one-stop-shop approach is also playing a major role, in fact, Argos customers can now collect and spend Nectar points both in-store and online for the first time.

Home Bargains

The graph shows that Home Bargins (HB) started strong and, after a steady decline, is performing better than when we started tracking data. it is the second most liked brand on average, which is likely due to the company investing in technology to ensure a safe customer experience. HB has launched a new 'Aldi-inspired' system within its stores. The new lights will be sensor-controlled and placed at the entrance and exit points of stores to monitor how many people are in the shop. (Source: The Daily Echo). It will also open another shop in Leeds next January (Source: The Daily Standard).

M&S

As mentioned in our last series, this is one retail brand which has managed to bounce back from the pandemic to increase likeability. Despite recent criticism of them and their previous delivery partner, Ocado, charging different prices for the same products in store and online (Source: The Guardian), the plan to reinvigorate its struggling clothing arm by selling an independent eco-fashion brand (Source: Fashionatingworld) on its website and eliminate soya from the production of all its milk, as part of its commitment to end deforestation in its supply chain, (Source: The Guardian) are clearly bearing fruits and increase the brand’s likeability.

Primark

The company is the worst performing brand in the sector. However, it has recently established an in-store recycling scheme to help curb the impact of textile waste on the environment (Source: RetailWeek), which gathered customer praise. As reported, recently Primark has consistently beaten the market, despite tough fashion headwinds, and is expected to report positive results(Source: RetailWeek). It may score low in likeability but it is still a top of mind choice for consumers.

Source: Rare: Consulting. UK adults 18+. Data collected between 7th April and 18th October 2020 (N=8,929). Those aware of the brand: three months’ moving average centered on the reference month. Average base in Retail (N=7,861), Grocery (N=6,484), Telco (N=7,434), Banking (N=6,734). Full data tables available from www.rare.consulting.

Three Key Insights

Retailers have an opportunity to use customer data to simplify their purchase journey and offer a one-stop-shop experience to lock consumers into their ecosystem.
The implementation of technology to keep staff and customers safe is having an impact on brand loyalty.
Implementing business strategies, which take into consideration the impact on the natural environment, helps to increase brands likeability.

Methodology

We calculated the Rolling averages, to identify long-term trends, by averaging a group of three months (e.g. April-May-June, which would be ‘May’). The number (%) obtained becomes representative of that period in a trend line. The period-based averages "roll," or "move," because when a new observation is gathered over time, the oldest is dropped out.

For more information on the data gathered, email hello@rare.consulting.

Brand Reputation Series - Oct Review - Issue 4 Retail: Who’s surviving and who’s thriving?