No one can deny the explosion of change in consumer behaviour that has come about since the pandemic, some of it forced and some of it embraced, in a myriad ways that form the new norm. Ultimately, it can lead to more opportunities for brands, but only for those that are smart about meeting their audiences in the right moments.

Key stats

• Seven in ten high-value online Australian shoppers rank online content as an important factor in their purchase decisions, particularly in exploring and defining their options (Ergo Strategy & NCA’s Growth Intelligence Centre, Jan 22).
• The high value audiences referred to include two NCA identified cohorts, Online Sophisticates & Male Millennials, who predominantly sit within the Millennials age-bracket, constitute 13 per cent of online shopping population but drive 41 per cent of ecommerce value as they gravitate to online shopping as a platform for discovery and decision-making (Marketplace Segmentation, Ergo Strategy & NCA’s Growth Intelligence Centre Jan 22)
• Three in four Australian consumers want brands they can trust – both who they buy from and who they get their information from when it comes to online purchases. (Marketplace Segmentation, NCA’s Growth Intelligence Centre & Ergo Strategy, Jan 22).
• Relevance is the #1 ranked factor in driving online consumers’ outcomes (Retail Therapy, Kantar and NCA Growth Intelligence Centre Sep 21).
• 85 per cent of Australian consumers rate shoppable online videos as the most relevant format (Retail Therapy, Kantar and NCA Growth Intelligence Centre Sep 21).

Our research within the Growth Intelligence Centre shows that, when it comes to ecommerce, consumers face an abundance of choice for online shopping with a multitude of touchpoints and information sources at hand. This has led to a blurring of the lines between traditional bricks-and-mortar and online shopping from a brand experience perspective, as consumers now expect a seamless transition across both.

However, this can sometimes feel chaotic and overwhelming, making it challenging for both consumers and brands to connect with each other at the purchase decision stage. The antidote to this chaos is relevance, which was the number one driver of outcomes in a study News Corp Australia conducted with Kantar called Retail Therapy. The study looked at a broad variety of factors influencing online shopping and purchase outcomes across product categories, identifying that 71 per cent of high-value online shoppers rank online content as an important factor in their purchase decisions.

The research also found that trust is a critically important factor, particularly given the increasingly complex and crowded nature of online shopping, with three in four consumers rating trust as important when assessing which brands they will buy online.

However, brands need to be cognisant that consumer behaviour varies by category and likely the size of the transaction. Typically, the bigger the decision, the more effort and time the consumer will put into getting the decision right. A consumer thinks very differently about purchasing lipstick online to researching, comparing, and then proceeding to purchase or sell a property.

Passive to active

REA.com.au's General Manager of Audience & Marketing, Sarah Myers, joined us recently as part of our Decoded: 2023 program to discuss property consumption, which is now largely digital. Recent REA and News Corp research shows that for the large majority of Australians, their property journey evolves over a number of steps through both a passive stage and an active stage. This is true for both buyers and vendors.

A key opportunity highlighted within the research was that seven in 10 Australians interested in property also consume news media for their property needs, with the majority of this engagement occurring in the passive stage. NCA’s ability to target and tailor content to this passive audience's needs is a key pillar of value for REA, helping grow their active audience base by cultivating more passive property intenders to active property intenders.

We know that the passive stage involves keeping up to date with property, suburb, and market related news, and lifestyle related trends and developments. The active stage is when property intenders become more heavily engaged in comparing, researching, evaluating and finally becoming ready to act on their next purchase or sale. We also know that over 60 per cent of Australians interested in property sit in the passive stage at any point in time. We have learnt that the most common trigger to shift to the active stage is having confidence in financial capacity to transact. Our ability to deliver content to help build this confidence is crucial in the success of our partnership.

The same opportunity for News Corp Australia to become matchmaker for our clients exists across all of the various purchase intender groups. This will be our focus moving forward, particularly with the launch of Intent Connect, the next evolution of News Connect, with the ability to create greater experiences for our audience, and better conversion outcomes for our clients based on understanding these moments that matter.