In Focus: Just how influential are influencers? · The most popular social media channel was Facebook (35%). Instagram followed with 22%, Pinterest (5%), Twitter (4%) and Snapchat

TheIndustry.fashion

How Britain will Shop for Fashion in 2019 and Beyond

In Focus: Just how influential are influencers?

TheIndustry.fashion | @theindustryfashion | @theindustryfash | @theindustryfashion | @theindustryfashion How Britain will Shop for Fashion in 2019 and Beyond | 2

Traditional media and marketing channels have been disrupted and new avenues to consumers, most notably digital and social media channels, are still establishing their ROI and reliability.

Receptive and engaged consumers are the backbone of any thriving business. The following report will look at what fashion content consumers are interested in and will suggest where brands and retailers should put their time and resources when marketing to their targeted consumer.

Discovering what consumers want, and when, is the key to a successful fashion business. Understanding how to influence consumers into purchasing is a continual headache for brands and retailers. Finding out where people are, what they are doing and how they are consuming information has become increasing fractured.

Foreword


Consuming Content

Fashion Content, in its many forms, is ‘regularly’ consumed by just over 1 in 10 of people. Under a third (29%) ‘sometimes’ consume content, a quarter ‘rarely’, while the largest segment (35%) say they never consume fashion content.

For the 65% of people who do consume some form of fashion content the most popular was online magazines (34%) followed closely by social media from brands (33%) and content on brand/retailer’s own websites (32%).

More traditional media, fashion/style sections of printed newspapers, was consumed by just under 1 in 4 of these people, followed by branded catalogues and magazines (22%).

Newspaper websites were a source for 1 in 5 of these people, printed fashion magazines (19%), and social media from ‘Influencers’ with 17%.

In the battle between traditional media and social media, it is, however, worth digging deeper into the demographics as they do challenge some traditional assumptions.

When it comes to printed fashion magazines, the most enthusiastic consumer group is the young millennials (25-34 year olds) with 25% consuming them with Gen Z (16-24 year olds) at 19% being the second largest group. The over-45s are hovering around 17%-18% with older millennials and Gen X-ers the least enthusiastic group at 15%.


Consuming Content continued

The fashion sections of printed newspapers, surprisingly, still perform strongly with 29% of young millennials (25-34 year-olds) and 27% of older millennials and Gen X (35-44 year olds) reading them. While Gen Z is less keen with 19% reading them, it is still a reasonable figure.

Where the generational divide is most evident in media is, unsurprisingly, social media.

Social media from brands is consumed by 47% of young millennials and Gen Z, too, is high at 39%. Consumption of such content drops off as we move through age groups, but for brands looking to attract the baby boomers, a printed catalogue or so-called “magalogue” may be the best bet. Some 35% of 65+ consumers say they read them (the figure hovers around 20% for other ages), with content on brands’ own websites also popular. Some 47% of 55+ consumers read it and 35% of 65+ consumers.

Of course the most marked difference comes when the generations are asked about social media influencers. They are popular among Gen Z and young millennials where 52% and 60% of consumers, respectively, actively follow fashion influencers and they fade into irrelevance the older the consumer gets. This might be down to the fact there are so few influencers for the older age groups or the fact that Instagram (the most popular channel for influencers) is less popular with older consumers.

19%

29%

15%17% 18% 18%

16-2

4

25

-34

35

-44

45

-54

55

-64

65

+

If you do read fashion content, where are you most likely to look for it? Printed fashion-related magazines

If you do read fashion content, where are you most likely to look for it? Social media from brands

Do you actively follow fashion influencers/celebrities whose style you admire on social media?

39%

47%

36%

26%

18%

16-2

4

25

-34

35

-44

45

-54

55

-64

65

+

11%

48%

52%60%

40%

34%

66%

84%

16%8%

92%100%

16-2

4

25

-34

35

-44

45

-54

55

-64

65

+

YES

NO

Takeaway — Roughly two-thirds of consumers say they consume some form of fashion content. Just over 1 in 5 consumers get this information digitally whether through online magazines, social media and websites and about 16% of consumers, overall, still get their information from traditional media such as newspapers and magazines.


‘Fashion Content’ & Social Media

22%35% 5% 4% 3%

The most popular social media channel was Facebook (35%). Instagram followed with 22%, Pinterest (5%), Twitter (4%) and Snapchat (3%). Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) of people said they didn’t use social media at all.

Actively following brands and retailers on their social media channels was split with over half (53%) saying they did, while 47% said they didn’t.

Those who said they did follow brands, a third said they often bought clothing they saw on brand/retailers’ social media channels. 53% said they ‘sometimes’ bought after seeing items on the brand’s social media channels. 12% said ‘rarely’ and 2% said ‘never’.

Takeaway — Over 70% of people use some form of social media. Of that segment, roughly half follow brands. Those who did, an overwhelming 86%, said they bought clothing they saw on those channels. This shows that consumers who are actively engaged with brands’ and retailers’ social media channels are very much influenced to buy what they see. People follow things they like, so are already receptive to what is presented to them.


The Power of Influencers

Of the 71% of consumers surveyed who did use social media, the majority (71%) said they didn’t actively follow fashion influencers or celebrities. 29% said they do.

Among those who do, 30% said they ‘often’ bought clothing seen on Influencers social channels. Over half (53%) said ‘sometimes’, 14% ‘rarely’ and 3% said ‘never’.

However, as previously noted, younger consumers are far more likely to follower influencers than older consumers, where they fade from insignificance to complete irrelevance the older a consumer gets. When consumers follow them, though, they do sell product.

Takeaway — Those who are engaged are nearly all buying from ‘Influencers’. 3 in 10 people often bought clothing seen on Influencers’ or celebrities’ social media channels.

Yes, I often buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

Yes, I sometimes buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

I rarely buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

I never buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

30%

53%

3%

14%Yes, I often buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

Yes, I sometimes buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

I rarely buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

I never buy clothing I see onfashion influencers’ social channels

30%

53%

3%

14%


“I believe content I see on fashion influencers’ channels to be impartial and more valuable than content delivered directly from a brand”

Just under 1 in 5 people strongly agreed, 29% agreed and 26% somewhat agreed. Only 2% strongly disagreed.

Men agreed most with this statement with 37% agreeing compared to 25% of women. The younger consumer 16-24 were the least likely to disagree.

“I am less likely to buy an item I see on an influencers’ channel if I know they have been paid to post it or gifted the item in question”

The results were similar to the previous question, with a slight change in disagreement (5%).

Men were less likely than women to buy an item from a sponsored post. The younger generations 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, had around two-third agreeing in some way that a sponsored post or gifted item has a negative effect. The age group, 55-64, felt the least strongly about this with nobody strongly agreeing, but overall they had the highest agreement overall.

?Takeaway — The vast majority of people like receiving natural content from third parties. Men more so than women. People see sponsored or gifted content more negatively. The slight change in disagreement with the second statement showed a change in people not being bothered whether the content had been sponsored or gifted. This was more true for younger females.

Paid versus unpaid content: do consumers care?


New UK Influencer Rules

There has, recently, been clarification between what is deemed sponsored and non-sponsored content for Influencers through social media.

In collaboration with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), consumers must always be aware when they are being advertised to, and both brands and influencers have a responsibility to ensure the content makes that reality clear upfront. Failure to disclose a commercial relationship leaves both parties at risk of action from the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority).

The guidelines state you have to declare #AD or similar, when you’ve been ‘paid’ in some way (can be freebies, doesn’t have to be money), AND, had some form of editorial ‘control’ over the content. It’s not an ‘either/or’ – there has to be both ‘payment’ and ‘control’ for this type of post to count as an #AD under the CAP Code.

As to the effectiveness of influencers, as previously mentioned, those who follow influencers, do buy the items they promote. But often brands find it a challenge to measure ROI however Instagram in its shape shift from social me-dia platform to shopping platform is now allowing users to shop directly from an influencers’ feed. While this will be a welcome metric for brand marketers, shoppers often take time to digest what they see on influencers’ feeds and buy later from other channels as we will discover in the next chapter.

Takeaway — This will make things clearer to consumers, particularly on Instagram, but raises the question about who exactly an ‘Influencer’ is. Magazines and newspapers are often gifted items which aren’t declared to its readership. The guidelines of product/money AND editorial control makes this similar to previous sponsored content which ethical Influencers would have been declaring anyway.


Converting Influence

When consumers had seen products they’d like to buy on social media, 15% said they would buy direct from the social media feed. Over half (54%) said they would go to the brand’s website to browse and find out more before buying online. Under 1 in 5 (19%) said they’d go to the brand’s website to browse then buy in a physical store. 8% said they will go straight to the physical store and 4% said they never buy products they see on social media feeds.

When shopping for clothes, 44% said they buy online via a smartphone, followed closely by 43% in a physical store. 36% shop online via a desktop and 26% said they shopped online via a tablet.

The most preferred method was in a physical store (34%) followed by smartphone (29%), then desktop (22%) then tablet (15%).

When shopping online, whether on a desktop or smartphone, what drove consumers to spend? A quarter (25%) said they’d seen an item in-store and bought it online later.

For the consumers that aren’t influenced, 20% said they know what they want and go straight to their preferred brand’s website and 25% know what they want and do a search of a number of brands before buying.

Takeaway — Of the 70% of people on social media just under three-quarters go to the brand’s website to browse and research further after seeing something on social media before buying. Around 10% of consumers buy directly from the social media feed. Buying online through a smartphone and physical stores are competing for the most popular retail channels. But physical stores were still the preferred option. Physical stores and online are still very entwined with a quarter of people saying they bought online after seeing an item in store.

I will go to the brand’s website to browseand find out more before buying online

I will go to the brand’s website to browseand find out more before buying in a physical store

I will buy direct from the social media feed

I will go straight to the physical store

I never buy products I see on social media feeds

54%

19%

15%

8%4%

I will go to the brand’s website to browseand find out more before buying online

I will go to the brand’s website to browseand find out more before buying in a physical store

I will buy direct from the social media feed

I will go straight to the physical store

I never buy products I see on social media feeds

54%

19%

15%

8%4%

When you see an item you want to buy on an influencer’s feed, what do you do?


Opting Out – Deleting Social Media?

“This isn’t the end, it’s just the start of something new. #LushCommunity – see you there.”

Social Media runs on FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out – so it’s a brave and confident business which decides to delete their social media channels. Lush, the British beauty company based in Poole,

recently, did just that.

Lush says they are “switching up social” and cited the reason as “social media is making it harder and harder for us to talk to each other directly. We are tired of fighting with algorithms,

and we do not want to pay to appear in your newsfeed. So we’ve decided it’s time to bid farewell to some of our social channels and open up the conversation between you and

us instead.

“We’re a community and we always have been. We believe we can make more noise using all of our voices across the globe because when we do we drive change,

challenge norms and create a cosmetic revolution. We want social to be more about passions and less about likes. Over the next week, our customer care team

will be actively responding to your messages and comments, after this point you can speak us via live chat on the website, on email at [email protected]

and by telephone: 01202 930051.”

Lush waved goodbye to its very healthy 572K Instagram and 202K Twitter followers. For such a visual, fun and innovative brand this is a

bold decision and it will be interesting to see whether this has any detrimental effects on its business and getting news or information

out to its customers. There’s also speculation they could be launching their own social media platform.


Hospitality brand, JD Wetherspoons deleted its social media and newsletter database last summer. Chairman Tim Martin told the BBC that society would be better off if people cut the amount of social

media use. The company said its decision had also been influenced by concerns regarding the “misuse of personal data” and “the addictive nature of social media”.

“We were also concerned that pub managers were being side-tracked from the real job of serving customers,” he said. “I don’t believe that closing these accounts will affect our business

whatsoever.” Martin said that it had consulted its pub managers before making the move, and “90-to-95% felt using social media was not helping the business”.

Opting Out – Deleting Social Media?

Takeaway — Wetherspoons’ has an older demographic than Lush, which isn’t as active on social media, so it feels like less of a sacrifice. But, what both these companies have is a maverick founder/owner who can make these kinds of decisions. Lush and Wetherspoons are both successful and are confident that they existed before social media and will exist after. They see social media as a distraction and on-going battle that they have decided to take themselves out of.

Some brands have simply deleted their history. When Hedi Slimance took over at Celine, it not only lost the accent, but also its entire Instagram history. It was a case of starting a fresh page, literally.

Abuse of people’s data and information is making consumers and brands want to distance themselves from some social media channels, and, if they’re not seeing the returns on the time and effort it takes to run, then they think it could be worth throwing in the towel on the whole thing.

If your brand is on every high-street, you still have that physical awareness. Brands need to constantly remind people that they exist and dead or non-existent social media channels can say otherwise.

You don’t own your social media channels and you are at the whims of the provider. Their monopolies have their best interests at heart, but unless we all walk away, it is where a lot of consumers still are.


Summary

The majority of consumers say they consume fashion content and are on social media. If somebody is a fan of a brand, and follow, they buy from that brand. This shows the

importance of brands naturally growing their followers and fans.

The relationship between online and off-line shopping is intertwined and justifies the omni-channel approach of many brands and retailers.

Social media is often a suggestion for ideas and products with consumers doing further research before buying.

Influencers are influencing those engaged consumers on social media. Consumers prefer natural and organic content rather than sponsored #AD from the people

they follow.

It will interesting to compare online time over subsequent years and to see whether individual’s social media activity has peaked.

The percentages of people on social media is predicted to grow with younger generations replacing older consumers, but it will be

important to know what kind of content they are interested in and how the younger generation’s fascination with YouTube and

video plays out with other forms of media and content.


About this report and future reports

Sample Information – This report is based on 1030 samples, 499 male, 536 female. Split evenly into 6 ages groups – 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+, in 4 main demographic areas – North, Midlands, South,

London, and divided between the socio-economic groups – ABC1, C2DE, 531 and 499 respectively.

Over the coming three months we will publish three further reports delving deep into Britain’s fashion shopping habits:

Reuse, recycle, rental: how sustainability is driving new fashion business models

How they spend it: current behaviours and future intentions

Where they spend it: the most popular brands, shops and retail channels

This report was written by contributing editor Marcus Jaye and edited by Editor in Chief Lauretta Roberts using data collected by consumer research experts Savanta.

For more information on future reports and to commission a bespoke report, please contact Chief Partnerships Officer Antony Hawman

[email protected] T: 020 3912 0001

Documents

In Focus: Just how influential are influencers? · The most popular social media channel was Facebook (35%). Instagram followed with 22%, Pinterest (5%), Twitter (4%) and Snapchat