The mobile-driven disruption brought about by the rise of a generation of digitally-savvy, connected consumers challenges companies to be personal, helpful and informative at all times through real-time contextually relevant content that offsets consumers’ concerns over privacy and cyber-security.

As consumers’ patience for adverts not relevant to them decreases and the risk of overexposure increases, brands able to develop a relationship with each individual that enables a truly personalised customer experience across all channels are rewarded with higher conversion rates, deeper customer engagement and lasting brand loyalty.

Additionally, consumers’ multichannel approach to researching product information coupled with touchpoints other than brands’ websites playing a supportive function in the research process, highlight shoppers’ effort to make an informed purchase decision by counterbalancing the pros and cons of different sources.

Omni-channel integration, effective segmentation and focused targeting strategies hence become the key to coupling the simplicity and reliability of the brick-and-mortar location with the flexibility of the digital options. It’s crucial to make sure the benefits of contextual marketing outweigh the perceived disadvantages, thus boosting acceptance and adoption and positively impacting brands’ bottom lines.

But branded app penetration is still limited, with a direct impact on the ability to roll out real-time contextual marketing through beacon technology. Companies that digitally target multi-channel Millennials and connected parents – who are the most likely to engage with brands at multiple touchpoints – through enhanced in-store functionalities and mobile payment integration will develop a competitive advantage in streamlining the customer experience and offering a seamless consumer journey.

Additionally, peer influence is becoming central in arriving at a purchase decision and is transforming branded communication into a two-way process of value co-creation. Companies able to capitalize on user-driven social media content by empowering and encouraging early adopters to act as advocates will be the most successful in engaging their customer base with real-time marketing messages.

This report looks at the myriad of online and offline touchpoints available to consumers in the digital era, investigating how UK consumers feel about these numerous options and what their preferred communication channels are when researching product information, contacting a company and making a purchase.