Capitalising on EOFY Retail Sales

EOFY is a loose term and time frame, but what does it mean for marketers who are trying to capitalise on this as a retail event?

EOFY isn’t only about clearing stock so retailers can kick-off the fiscal year with a clean slate. By leveraging 2018 retail data, marketers can better plan their campaigns, taking the opportunity to engage with consumers who are actively shopping, seeking discounts and open to discovering new brands and products.

With EOFY loosely covering the month of June, retailers may be wondering when should they concentrate activity? 2018 retail data from Rakuten Marketing reveals an 80% week-on-week (WoW) increase in revenue during the last week of June. This compares to a 46% increase in orders, further depicting that during EOFY season, consumers are spending on high average-order-value (AOV) items.  In the first week of July, both orders and revenue decrease, showing the opportunity that the last week in June presents for retailers to increase their activity.

Digging into the data and what campaigns drove the most activity, programmatic prospecting campaigns drove the highest number of impressions and engagement during this period. In addition to this, post-engagement orders driven by prospecting campaigns increased 50% WoW in the last week of June, before declining 28% in the first week of July. EOFY provides enormous potential for marketers looking to acquire new customers at a time when they are open to discovering new brands and products.

New to file customers aren’t the only ones driving an uptick in performance. According to data from Rakuten Marketing, retargeting campaigns drove 19% more revenue during EOFY than prospecting. Retailers have a significant opportunity to derive long-term value from consumers by bringing them back again, and again. Research shows that 27% of first-time purchasers will buy from a retailer a second time, but this number increased drastically between the second and third purchase, with 45% of consumers purchasing again, and then 66% of those who have bought five times continuing to shop with that same retailer.

Amongst the programmatic strategies driving EOFY success, paid social is leading the charge when it comes to driving the most clicks from new users. Consumers are increasingly spending more time on social platforms, and the rise of video formats on Facebook, Instagram and the like means that targeting consumers via paid social allows retailers to story-tell effectively, and introduce new, engaged users to site.

Manuel Kambos, Director of Growth at Rakuten Marketing APAC, shares further insights into how retailers can make sense of the data and truly capitalise on the EOFY period.

• Go hard in the last week of June! It’s true that people are on the lookout for a deal during EOFY. However, this means that they’re also more generally in market to purchase. Research shows that sales AND average order value increase in that last week, so make sure you get your slice of the pie!
• Let your prospecting and retargeting campaigns work together. There is a need for synergy across programmatic campaigns. Prospecting should be used to deliver new-customer success and retargeting campaigns should be used to re-engage consumers and fuel repeat-purchases.
• Leverage the skills of your social experts. Paid social presents an opportunity to deliver highly targeted and personalised advertising that drives new users and conversions.
• Test and learn based on past performance data. By examining the results of previous campaigns, retailers are empowered to make data led decisions about the types of campaigns, messaging and targeting strategies that best allow their brand to reach consumers. An understanding of engagement metrics helps to reveal which creative or placement strategies are best working for a brand.

Is data fueling your EOFY strategies? Both owned, and industry data are powerful tools in knowing when consumers intend to shop, and which marketing strategies they’re engaging with. Capitalise on the EOFY period by delivering data-fueled campaigns to drive reach and encourage conversions during this peak retail period.

Want more information on how your brand can optimise End of Financial Year sales? Visit rakutenmarketing.com.au and speak to an expert today!