The cost-of-living crisis is one of the top concerns for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs), but many remain positive about their financial future, according to CensusWide research, commissioned by ChannelAdvisor.
The survey of 305 UK brand CMOs found that 23% of marketers see the cost-of-living crisis as their biggest concern for the coming year. Despite this feeling, 67% of respondents said they are positive about their revenue growth over the next 12 months, while 51% remain optimistic about their sales growth over the next five years.
Much of this positivity is down to confidence that the ecommerce market will continue to grow. Over the past 18 months, the UK market has grown by 12% to reach a total value of £148 billion, while the global value of ecommerce is now over $13 trillion. As a result, 36% of brands expect to increase sales abroad in the next year.
“As pressure on household budgets continues to intensify consumers may look to tighten their wallets and re-focus on essential spending. At the same time brands are trying to navigate through these tricky times and are under pressure to remain competitive among some of the most difficult trading conditions in recent years. Despite this there does remain a real sense of optimism amongst UK brand CMO’s as growth in the e-commerce market continues to beat expectations,” said Vladi Shlesman, Managing Director, EMEA at ChannelAdvisor.
“Loyalty will play a key role in the short term as customers are more willing to shop around to grab the best deals for products. Brands and retailers need to consider a number of approaches in order to ensure that they are the most attractive proposition amongst the competition, delivering consistently on value and quality both domestically and internationally.”
