75 per cent of UK consumers feel that the majority of retailers don’t understand their interests, showing a lack of personalisation and relevance in communications could be hurting brands.

Interestingly, in order to receive more relevant marketing, 52 per cent of people would be willing to hand over their personal data, according to Censuswide survey of 1,006 people in the UK, commissioned by AI-powered customer marketing platform Ometria.

Women are both more likely to hand over their data – 58 per cent – and respond positively to a personalised offer – 28 per cent feeling ‘very valued’ when they receive one – than men (46 per cent and 19 per cent respectively).

The research also found that email was the preferred method of contact for 45 per cent of consumers, the next most preferred option being Facebook at 24 per cent. However, retailers need to think beyond sending out generic, blanket emails to all with 53 per cent stating they feel valued as customers when they receive personalised promotions and perks, while 61 per cent would actively be ‘bothered’ if a retailer didn’t give them any special treatment for being loyal.

 “While retailers like ASOS and Made.com are adopting effective personalisation techniques to ensure their customers are receiving relevant messages and, in turn, amazing experiences, it’s clear that many more retailers are still relying on ‘batch-and-blast’ to communicate, even with their most loyal shoppers,” said Ivan Mazour, CEO of Ometria.

“Our research shows a growing intolerance of mass, undifferentiated communication amongst consumers. There is less patience for reading marketing messages about items they’d never want as expectations have evolved to match the bar being set by those retailers at the top of their personalisation game. This research reflects this change and demonstrates that the time to change for retailers struggling to reach their audience is now.”