NYC Might Ban Location Data on Phones

Marketers spend billions buying location data to better target consumers on mobile devices, but a new law proposed in NYC would put an end to all of that.

The New York City Council has proposed a bill that would prohibit telecommunications carriers and mobile apps from sharing a user’s location data with another person, if the location is within New York City.

The City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications would enforce the prohibition, which would be $1,000 per violation with a maximum penalty of $10,000 per day per person whose location data was shared unlawfully. This bill would prohibit anyone who receives location data from sharing it with another.

Citizens would also have the right to take action against telecommunications carriers and mobile app developers that break this law.

New Research from The Relevancy Group

The Relevancy Group recently released two new research reports that export consumer behavior and attitudes. This research is part of our Relevancy.AI Research Subscription. Learn more about becoming a subscriber.

How Consumers Buy: Online Shopping Behaviors and Attitudes 

About: Published on 2/15/19, we investigate how consumers buy online. It explores which channels motivates consumers to buy.

Key Questions:
• What is the state of online spending?
• How do consumers select the online brands that they purchase from?
• How does email marketing aid and influence online spending?
• Which marketing channels provide the greatest influence on consumer spending?

 

Consumer Inbox Trends: ISP Utilization and Behaviors

About: Published on 2/1/19, we examine consumer email inbox providers and ISP usage. The research reviews email inbox usage by age and mandates advice for marketers to improve deliverability and engagement.

Key Questions:
• What drives consumers to switch inbox providers?
• Which inbox providers are consumers utilizing?
• What demographic patterns exist in ISP and email utilization?

 

Germany Says Facebook Can’t Combine Data

Germany is taking on Facebook’s data gathering practice, and trying to put an end to how the company tracks social media users.

The country’s antitrust office ruled that the social networking giant is violating consumer trust by combining data gathered from its various properties and third-party websites.

According to the German office, using data from Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook in conjunction with third-party data allows the company to build unique consumer profiles, which breaks consent rules.

The office snow requiring Facebook to get explicit consent to collect and combine this data. The company must provide the German office with a plan to fix these practices or face hefty fines.

GDPR Violation: France Fines Google $57 Million

Google is the first company faced with a hefty fines for allegedly violating Europe’s new GDPR data privacy rules, which went into effect last May.

French regulators have fined Google $57 million for data privacy violations. According to the complaint filed by France’s government watchdog CNIL, the tech giant violated two provisions of the law.

The first issue is that Google failed to make its data-collection policies easily accessible, according to CNIL. The second issue is that Google failed to get user consent for ad personalization across all of its services, including YouTube and Google Maps, among others.

Google has not commented on the violations, except to say they are committed to meeting the GDPR consent requirements.

Consumer Holiday Expectations Are In

Consumer Holiday Expectations Are In

By David Daniels, CEO and Founder – The Relevancy Group

This week we had our annual Consumer Holiday Behaviors and Attitudes Webinar which was as always was sponsored by Zeta Global. The event was full of data and featured excellent discussion and insight from Zeta’s Tim O’Leary.  You can watch the webinar on demand here.

Some of the interesting findings include:

• Consumers utilize email every day, 89 percent of them are checking their email daily. Email remains our digital fingerprint and shows no sign of being replaced by other communication modalities.
• Mobile dominance is increasing. Forty percent of consumers state that their primary email device is their mobile phone and 26 percent state that it is their primary online shipping device. Retailers must ensure that their messages and websites are optimized for mobile viewing.
• Self-gifting is up year-over-year from $264 in 2017 to $279 in 2018. Retailers should be utilizing BOGO offers and messaging that encourages to be self-indulgent.
• More consumers intend to shop on Cyber Monday. Eighteen percent report that they are going to do most of their holiday shopping on Cyber Monday which is up about ten percent from last year.
• Women are more engaged on themed shopping days, nearly half of women state that they will do most of their shopping on Black Friday as opposed to 39 percent of men. Fourteen percent of women say they will do all their holiday shopping on Black Friday.
• On average consumers will comparison shop across three sites; but 20 percent of consumers state that they don’t do any comparison shopping. On the webinar we discuss the reasons why that is, one of them being the impact of Amazon Prime as increasing spot for buyers to go to.

There are many more findings, tactics, and tips including how to leverage mobile real-time data to improve the customer experience.

Tune in and check out this wonderful webinar.

Wishing you success this holiday season!

All the best,

David

 

What do Consumers Want from Retailers This Holiday Season?

What do Consumers Want from Retailers This Holiday Season?

To better understand purchasing motivations, attitudes and behaviors, The Relevancy Group and Zeta Global are conducting a survey of 1,000 consumers in the U.S. We will be sharing these results and last-minute holiday recommendations on Wednesday 11/14 at 1 PM. Register for the webinar and get a link to a recording of the webinar that will be filled with data and recommendations.

Looking Back on 2017
In 2017 just 15 percent of consumers stated that they planned to spend more on holiday spending than they did in 2016 while 64 percent stated about the same as year over year. While the economy in 2018 is good, Chinese Import tariffs are raising prices at big-box retailers, i.e. Walmart, that rely on offshore goods. This likely won’t impact overall spending, but the consumer’s dollar may not go as far in 2018 as it did last year. In 2017 consumers under the age of 39 were more likely to spend more on holiday purchases a trend we expect that we will see again in 2018.

Consumers continue to shift their holiday spend online. Last year 56 percent of consumers stated they would do half or more of their holiday shopping online. Overall ten percent of consumers shop exclusively online, a trend we expect will grow to 12 to 14 percent in 2018. Last year consumers aged 27-53 are most likely to do the majority of their holiday shopping online.

Year-over-Year Consumers are consistent with their holiday shopping plan, with 29 percent already shopping for the holiday season. Eighteen percent start after Halloween and the majority start after Thanksgiving. Last year 20 percent stated they have no set plan. Half of women start their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving a trend that we expect to continue to see this year.

Holiday self-gifting was up year over year from 2016 to 2017 increasing from $243 to $264. We will likely see an increase again in 2018, but we don’t expect it to be as large in years past. This is likely because of the higher cost of products and the general impact of the dollar.

Next time we will look back on what motivates consumers to purchase and what opportunities exist for marketers this 2018 holiday season.

Join us on November 14, at 1 PM ET for the 2018 consumer holiday results.

Until next time,
David

Webinar: Consumer Holiday Expectations

Consumer Holiday Attitudes and Marketing Behaviors

Join us on November 14, 1 PM ET. Based on a November 2018 Consumer Survey by The Relevancy Group, sponsored by Zeta Global we explore U.S. consumer holiday attitudes. We reveal consumer shopping, email marketing, mobile and social behaviors. We will share last minute tactics and considerations to optimize for the important holiday season.

Attend this webinar and learn:
• What are consumers planning to spend online this holiday season and how this trends from 2017?
• What offers are likely to influence purchasing decisions?
• What sways consumers to select a brand?
• How many brands do consumer’s opt-into and shop from?
• What are the most important holiday trends for marketers?

Speakers:
• David Daniels, CEO & Founder – The Relevancy Group
• Nicholas Einstein, VP of Research – The Relevancy Group
• Tim O’Leary, SVP Onboarding Delivery – Zeta Global

Register and get a copy of the recording.