Marketing Charts: Seven discoveries from recent MarketingSherpa research

MarketingSherpa recently fielded research with 2,400 consumers, and our data science and editorial team are currently pouring over the data to identify discoveries we can share with you in the near future.

In the meantime, here is a compilation of discoveries from previous MarketingSherpa research.

Discovery #1: Customers want brands to improve e-commerce shopping experience by offering free shipping

Three-quarters (74%) of consumers said free shipping is their top choice for how retailers could improve their shopping experience. Free shipping was the top choice among disparate demographics with:

• 85% of females age 65+ saying retailers can improve the shopping experience by providing free shipping
• 79% of females age 18-34
• 77% of males age 65+
• 61% of males age 18-34

See the full data in the article Ecommerce Chart: How Millennials and Baby Boomers want you to improve the shopping experience

Discovery #2: Email is consumers’ preferred communication method

Subscribing to receive email is the most preferred communication method for consumers to receive regular updates and promotions from companies they are interested in doing business with. Email was chosen by 60% of respondents.

While email was the top choice across older and younger demographics, it was somewhat more popular with older and female consumers:

• 65% of females aged 65+ said their preferred way to receive regular updates and promotions from companies is to subscribe to receive emails
• 59% of females age 18-34
• 61% of males age 65+
• 53% of males age 18-34

See the full data in the article Marketing Research Chart: How Millennials and Baby Boomers want to receive updates and promotions

Discovery #3: In-store browsing a popular way to discover new products

When we asked consumers how they learned about new products, “in-store browsing” was the most popular response for both older and younger shoppers, with:

• 65% of females 65+ using in-store browsing
• 61% of females 18-35
• 57% of males 65+
• 46% of males 18-35

See the full data in the article Marketing Research Chart: How Millennials and Baby Boomers want you to introduce them to new products

Discovery #5: Seven in 10 Americans have made purchases influenced by a company's email

When asked how email affects their purchase behavior, 69% of U.S. adults told us they have made purchases influenced by a company's email. Where did they make those purchases? The most popular option (selected by 22% of overall respondents) was making purchases primarily online but also occasionally purchasing in a store or over the phone.

See the full data in the article Email Marketing Chart: How email influences purchases (online and off)

Discovery #6: Only 8% of Americans say they don’t want to receive marketing

While marketing can get a bad rap, consumers do see a need for it. Only 8% of consumers told us they prefer not to receive any company updates or promotions.

How do they want to receive that information from companies? As mentioned above, the most popular option is to subscribe to receive email (chosen by 60%) and 54% of consumers want postal mail from brands they’re interested in.

See the full data in the article Marketing Research Chart: How consumers prefer to receive updates and promotions from brands

Discovery #7: 15% of Americans would like to receive promo email daily

When asked how often they would like to receive promotional emails (for example, coupons or sales notifications), 86% of consumers said they want to receive promotional emails at least monthly with 15% wanting to receive a promotional email every day.

See the full data in the article Email Research Chart: How often customers want to receive promotional emails

Related research

Ecommerce Marketing Research: To be truly successful, you must step out of the ecommerce bubble

Email Marketing Chart: Tactics used by the top 1% of viral emails

MECLABS Institute Email Messaging Online Course (from MarketingSherpa’s parent research organization)