Insights

The finance sector has seen rapid changes in consumer behaviour throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to lockdown, online banking and financial products have accelerated online.

While cookie deprecation brings new challenges, it also creates an opportunity for brands to regain consumer trust. Now is the time for the industry to band together to create better ads and use marketing strategies that enhance the online experience.

The affiliate channel is the perfect low-risk, low-cost model for brands looking to expand internationally. Here are three key reasons why working with a global affiliate network is best for brands looking to expand beyond their home country.

2020 has seen e-commerce accelerate with more consumers and brands turning to online shopping during lockdown. With high-street, closed people who previously hadn’t shopped online are now more comfortable making purchases, and smaller retailers have had no choice but to turn to e-commerce.

Throughout 2020 publishers and brands have had to adjust to continually shifting consumer behaviours as the world moved in and out of lockdown.

New findings in the ‘Road to Recovery’ from Rakuten Advertising highlight that almost half (49%) of affiliate publishers have seen site traffic increase since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of publishers (44%) also expect traffic levels for the 2020 peak shopping period to exceed pre-COVID-19 levels.

Rakuten Advertising recently launched a new innovative way to manage affiliate marketing programs – through our Accelerate service.

In early September, children and university students throughout the UK will return to school. For many students, they will head into the classroom for the first time since the government closed schools in late March.

COVID-19 has impacted the way people conduct business and how consumers purchase and interact with brands. In-fact, June saw the global retail forecast for 2020 revised down by over 10%, with e-commerce now anticipated to reach US$190.79 billion.

Consumers believe they are missing out on video-on-demand content due to lack of availability and price, according to new research from Rakuten Advertising, the global provider of advertising technology and consumer insights.

It was anticipated that in 2019 shoppers in the UK would spend £1.6 billion on their Mum’s during the Mother’s Day shopping period. Last year saw Mother’s Day moved from early March to the end of the month, a move that saw brands begin promoting the holiday later than usual and many questioned whether this would impact sales or not.