Summer shopping tribes: How brands can benefit from consumers’ seasonal behaviour

eBay’s Phuong Nguyen discusses the key shopping groups to engage with this summer.

With summer around the corner, there are lots of opportunities for brands to capitalise on consumers’ seasonal shopping behaviours.

At eBay.co.uk we have identified four key summer shopping tribes that brands can engage with in the coming months, if they can be quick to act on insight.

Fine weather fashionistas

With the weather improving, optimistic Britons look to fill their wardrobes with summer items as they hang up their coats until the autumn. Searches for flip flops, bikinis and shorts all leap significantly on the marketplace in May as shoppers prepare for the temperatures to soar.

Beach beauties

With sunny weather comes a summer health and beauty regime. Marketers who observe a shopper’s browsing history will be set to gain. If a consumer has bought a sarong, bikini and beach bag, there is a high chance that sun care brands will gain share of wallet with shoppers who are preparing for a trip to the beach. Brands that offer options that complement a shopper’s bigger purchases will have a competitive advantage.

Take festival goers as an example, if a consumer has bought wellington boots, a tent and an over the shoulder bag, beauty brands that offer staple items like antiseptic wipes, dry shampoo and miniature cosmetic products can make lots of small wins as shoppers set off to camping sites.

Summer sportspeople

With the longer stretch in the evenings and a sense of urgency for the perfect beach body, eBay.co.uk sees a surge in purchases of sporting equipment and nutrition brands. Looking at a shopper’s history will help marketers make qualified inferences. For example if a shopper has purchased waterproof cycling gear during the winter, they might well be interested in the latest cycling shorts for summer bike rides or even a new bicycle as they get inspired by the Tour de France and the longer summer days.

Making use of this inferred insight is key; it allows brands to target based on who their customers actually are, resulting in more effective messages.

Element dependent families

While British families long for a sunny summer, the weather in this country is inevitably unpredictable. Brands should be nimble and alter campaigns depending on the weather. For example, targeting shoppers with swimsuits and beach balls when the sun emerges as people flock to the beach will drive sales. Equally, games and electronic brands can get their share of the action by tapping in to real-time opportunities when the good weather spells are replaced by bouts of rain and families are forced indoors.

In the final two days before Good Friday last year for example, there was a search every minute for “board game” on eBay.co.uk, @eBay coinciding with the news that Easter Sunday and Easter Monday would bring unsettled weather. For brands that can tailor campaigns according to the weather forecast, there are dramatic gains to be made.

Ultimately, by observing what consumers are actually browsing and buying online, marketers can understand these ‘tribes’ and tailor their campaigns and creative to be more relevant – this will minimise campaign wastage and reach consumers more effectively.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/

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