Retail Ecommerce Mood, Tech News, The Value of Real User Monitoring & Paid Media Benchmarks

Let’s start with the prevailing retail/ecommerce mood.

?? Something positive:

Retail sales saw the strongest growth in six months in September, as non-food performed better than expected.

?? The ongoing struggle:

Weak consumer confidence and the continued impact of high business rates means retailers’ capacity for further investment is limited. Murmurs of higher NICs on pension contributions doesn't help.

We’re seeing this in the market. Fewer big projects, greater focus on making the most of existing tech over a longer period (we’ve spoken to a few SFCC/Adobe customers recently who would have been reviewing their platform but have deferred this due to capex restrictions / other strategic priorities. Change is happening, but not at the same scale/pace as before 2022.

The agency/SI mood is definitely more buoyant in H2/2024 but, for many, it’s getting harder to find the volume and quality of leads.?

According to Statista , ecommerce revenue in the UK is due to grow from ￡91.02bn to ￡99.84bn, 9.7% growth. Stronger than 2022-2023 but still ￡4.6bn less than 2021.

And now onto our usual suspects….

Part One - Interesting Tech Discoveries / News

Adobe

Just released the ability to turn text or images into video clips using command prompts in Creative Cloud. The new Firefly Video Model is free to existing subscribers and integrates directly with existing Adobe tools.

This is my favourite visual example from the blog, using the prompt: “Macro shot of a tiny baby dragon made out of lava scuttling around inside a volcano.”

Damn, I want a baby dragon ??

https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/10/14/generate-video-beta-on-firefly-web-app?

Attention

Provides a suite of AI assistants to automate tasks and improve business efficiency. For example, a sales assistant that provides actionable insights from calls and helps you handle follow-ups by drafting customised emails. It can also provide real-time in-call suggestions for responses to prospects to improve the outcomes of individual conversations.

This could be useful for agencies and B2B ecommerce sales teams.

https://www.attention.com/?

Part Two - Video - Real User Monitoring (5 mins)

A discussion on the importance of Real User Monitoring (RUM) in evaluating website performance and user experience. Our emphasis is on the need for a more comprehensive approach that considers various user types and real-time data. We reference RUM tools like Noibu and RUMvision - Core Web Vitals monitoring to gain deeper insights into user experiences and to identify performance issues that could impact conversion rates and overall site effectiveness.

And make sure you follow and listen to the leading though leader in site performance, the wonderful Erwin Hofman .

Key takeaways:

• Real User Monitoring provides a more accurate view of user experience.
• Core Web Vitals is a useful benchmark but has limitations.
• Different user types experience performance differently.
• RUM tools can help pinpoint specific performance issues.
• Detailed analysis can prevent negative impacts on metrics after a launch.
• Understanding user journeys is key to improving site performance.

Part Three - Paid Media Benchmarks & Updates

Google launches ads in AI overviews

Earlier this year 谷歌 introduced AI overviews into the SERP. Utilising Google’s Gemini model customised for Google Search, this feature helps piece together the information to answer a user's query. Google has now introduced its ad feature within this format. Ads will be displayed above, below and within summaries, suggesting products related to the search.?

Initially ads will be displayed for US mobile users only with queries that have a commercial aspect, but we expect to see this rolled-out across further markets next year.

Meta Announces Image Animation and Video Expansion Tools

Meta is now offering generative AI video creation tools for advertisers. The tools are rolling out in Advantage+ creative initially and will be more broadly available in the new year.?

Earlier in the year they rolled out features such as image resizing and background adaptation, and video expansion will now allow advertisers to create more immersive video ads by adding movement to fixed images.

Gen AI certainly has been a focus in their product development and launches this year and into 2025 will have a continued focus on creating stronger brand voice and tone in order to build confidence in advertiser and brand adoption.

TikTok Updates Search Ads Campaigns with Keyword Targeting

Last year TikTok added ‘search ads’ toggle in ads campaigns which allowed brands to serve ads against related search queries in the app. TikTok have now rolled out greater control for advertisers across this format allowing them to target specific keywords ensuring ads appear against relevant searches to the right user, with the right creative and not just a toggle placement as done so previously.

With TikTok quickly becoming the go-to search platform among Gen Z in particular, this new feature ensures the platform continues to focus on driving product discovery and creating end-to-end consumer experiences.

Meta Ads benchmarks

Meta budgets are continuing to see strong growth year on year, up 36% for September, with spend throughout the year following a very similar trend. Budget growth is predominantly being driven across EU and Middle Eastern markets, up 91% and 291% respectively, while the UK sees slower growth at only 10%.

CPMs across Meta are seeing 18% inflation year on year, to an average of ￡5.69 across our client set. The UK is the most stable market with only 10% inflation while the US is up 60% to an average of ￡13.60.

Attributed revenue to the platform is up 45% for September year on year, out growing spend. September was an especially strong month for Meta attributed revenue, up 18% month on month.

Google Ads benchmarks

Google Ads budgets have outgrown Meta budgets, up 73% year on year. Unlike Meta spend growth has been strong across all markets, and appears to be helping maintain UK performance.

CPCs across Google have increased far less than Meta CPMs, making the platform look more favourable vs. last year. The average CPC across our client set last month was ￡0.39.

Part Four - Interesting Digital Events & Useful Resources

Events

A couple of crackers from Commerce Futures :?

24-Oct, London, 08:45 - 11:30

Hypergrowth - Tackling the upsides and challenges of rapid digital growth:

https://www.commerce-futures.com/events/hyper-growth-breakfast

19-Nov, London, 18:00 - 22:30

Shrinking the tech stack - Jump on the trend of making your stack cheaper but better:

https://www.commerce-futures.com/events/shrinking-tech-stacks

Articles / Guides

This is a must read IMO: The State of AI Report 2024. What’s crazy is the enterprise value of AI companies has already hit $9T!

https://www.stateof.ai/

Must read article on Google’s new ‘srsltdid’ URL parameter from Erwin Hofman , explaining how it can adversely affect CWV scores if it’s not factored into server-side caching strategies:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/erwinhofman_seo-corewebvitals-activity-7245374876671250433-EQeK/?

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