Consumer craving normality, research finds

for Irish retailers

Furthermore, card payments are not necessarily cheaper for retailers. “Intuitively, you would say that digital and e-commerce solutions must be less expensive than cash,” said Jennings. “But bills for contactless payments have increased over the last year. I have asked the Central Bank to reassess contactless and cash handling fees.” Following the exodus of banks from Ireland, where Vincent Jennings, are the alternatives? Bank of CEO, CSNA. Ireland has struck an agreement with An Post for customer bank transactions, which could drive business into outlets such as Murphy’s SuperValu, which has a post office on the premises. Some of the store’s cash “goes through our in-store ATM, which will become busier because Rosslare’s Bank of Ireland ATM will, I presume, close as well.” While AIB avails of similar An Post services to those agreed by Bank of Ireland, the post office network was not built for business banking and the country needs something to fill the vacuum left by Ulster Bank. There’s also the question of what will happen to Ulster Bank’s €20 billion loan book. Permanent TSB, a Government-owned mortgage bank, believes it can strike a deal in the carve-up. Retail representatives have other ideas. ISME suggested that Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) could be set up as a direct-to-business bank. RGDATA called for “immediate and urgent action” and early adoption in the programme for government for the Town Centre First policy. “We need to move quickly to develop an all-of-government approach to town centre regeneration,” said Buckley. CSNA called on the Department of Finance, Enterprise, and the Taoiseach to elevate credit unions and other financial institutions to banking status. Perhaps Ireland should look overseas as well? “We have built barriers that make it difficult for outside companies to do business in Ireland, but there should be no reason why a person cannot engage with getting a loan from a Dutch or German company,” said Jennings. As it stands, the lack of banking competition within the Irish market leaves retailers with few options. “AIB and BoI are now the only two mass suppliers in the market,” said McDonnell. “This is very worrying - and it has been happening in plain sight for more a decade.”

Consumer craving normality, research finds

NEW research carried out by Kinetic, the specialists in innovative Out of Home (OOH) communications for brands, has highlighted the desire for a return to ‘normality’ amongst consumers. 55% of people are planning to out get out more when restrictions permit, including visiting parks and popular locations outside of their 5km limit, and visiting other counties in Ireland. The research, carried out in partnership with Spark Market research, examined changes in consumer behaviour across three categories: grocery shopping, consumer sentiment, and spending power. In March and April 2020, in the early stages of lockdown, consumers adapted their grocery shopping habits, with many opting to do one large shop per week. The latest results show that the level of ‘main shops’ has remained consistent, as 53% of respondents reported doing a large shop on a weekly basis. The rate of smaller ‘Top-up shops’ has increased by 24% when compared to March and April 2020, with 36% of consumers doing a top-up shop 2-3 times per week. Interestingly, only 17% of those surveyed reported doing their main weekly shop online. 30% of people reported buying less alcohol in their main weekly shop, while 47% stated they are buying more Irish products this month.

“Contrary to reports that consumers have moved all their shopping online, our research found in-store shopping has remained popular during this lockdown period,” noted Caroline DeCourcy, Insight Director at Kinetic. “This presents ample opportunities for brands to engage with consumers through OOH advertising, not just at Point of Sale (POS) but also on their journey to the supermarket.” 8% of respondents cited they were spending more time out walking on a daily basis, which highlights the prominence of local audiences for the OOH industry. The research also found that 73% of people plan on visiting retail outlets once they can do so safely.

The results indicate that there is very strong spending power among audiences of all ages. Survey respondents reported planning large purchases this year, with 34% planning on doing significant home improvements, 19% plan on buying a new car and 17% will be moving into a new home.