By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Analysis of consumer purchase data can provide important information for retailers.
Consumer purchase data is among the strongest leading indicators of economic trends, as consumer spending accounts for more than 70 percent of US GDP. Return Path’s Brands of Summer explores purchase trends for prominent consumer brands in five key categories of the seasonal retail market.
For each of these brands, the report analyzes the purchase activity of a sample cohort of consumers with at least two years of purchase history. Data points include average orders per month, average monthly orders per buyer, and average monthly spend per buyer. In addition, the report shows trending data on monthly buyer counts and monthly spend for each brand.
“This report is an excellent example of the powerful insights business professionals can get using our anonymized, item-level data. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Eric Weinberg, Return Path’s Executive Vice President of Field Operations. “By providing this rich, highly detailed information on consumer buying habits, Return Path can help analysts, market researchers, and retailers understand their audience, recognize market trends, and make more confident business decisions.”
The report revealed that:
- While consumers talk a good talk, they are not always willing to commit their cash to their fitness goals. The data revealed that Beachbody, a brand best known for its popular P90X fitness series, saw a 20 percent increase in buyers from January 2014 to December 2015, while the average monthly spend declined by 14 percent. This could represent a large number of consumers cashing in on free trials, but dropping the program once payment is required.
- Beachy brands are attracting new buyers who are spending more- Despite Q4 challenges across the retail industry, mean spend was up year-over-year. Hollister saw a significant increase in back-to-school shopping sales in 2015. The brand averaged 1.2 orders per buyer each month and $71.72 in average monthly spend per buyer. Meanwhile, American Eagle also found success in Q4 2015, marked by 3 percent revenue growth and higher average monthly spend per buyer compared to Hollister with $75.86.
- Vision care in the US is a growing industry- This $35 billion a year industry is led by regular glasses, contacts and eye care products, but sunglasses and designer frames still rake in about $3 billion. For Warby Parker, Return Path’s analysis showed an increase in the number of unique monthly customers and overall spend from January 2014 to December 2015.
- Post-holiday vacations remain popular. While year-over-year purchase numbers remain strong for leisure brands Sandals Resorts and Carnival Cruise Line, they are also highly cyclical. Both brands saw notable January spikes in buyer counts and monthly spend. This likely reflects the common desire to escape cold weather in favor of more tropical destinations.
- There is an accelerating shift to subscription-based music streaming. Spotify continues to lead the pack and to grow, with upward trends in both buyer count and monthly spend.
The Brands of Summer report highlights the potential of Return Path’s Consumer Insight business to provide actionable data for retailers. By capturing high volumes of detailed online purchase receipts, Return Path’s Consumer Insight data enables deep analysis into buying preferences and patterns including SKU-level data, itemized pricing, sizing, color, and quantity purchased.
