End of BST ‘benefits marketers’

Most people will be looking forward to an extra hour in bed this Sunday as British Summer Time draws to a close but insight from eBay Enterprise suggests the darker days will trigger new opportunities for marketers.
The company has identified three opportunities for brands and retailers to make the most of the change in season:
Don’t forget winter sun-seekers: Winter isn’t just about snuggling on the sofa with a heavy blanket and a DVD. The increasing popularity and affordability of long-haul flights has created a buoyant year-round market for summer holiday stock, with the clock change seeing people look for last-minute ‘winter sun’ getaways. Observing what people are browsing and buying is especially important at this time of year to ensure you minimize wastage in your marketing spend by not targeting people who are still in a summer mindset with winter offers.
Shoppers become less selfish: It is impossible to escape the fact that Christmas is coming – now could be a good time to start catering for ‘selfless shopping’, as consumers start buying gifts for family and friends. Don’t forget, though, that many people will still be looking to buy for themselves. Customer profiles will help you distinguish gift-buyers from personal purchasers and target them accordingly, whether that is with products at different price points or from different departments.
Prepare for influx of dual-screeners: Advanced attribution techniques can help you identify any changes in consumer habits when it comes to device usage. Keep an eye on email open- and click-through rates, and customer engagement across different devices, and prepare for a possible jump in tablet usage as the cold, and dark force consumers indoors in the evenings. TV schedules are carefully planned around this winter stay-at-home mentality – it is well worth looking at opportunities to align campaigns with blockbuster shows to take advantage of a growing number of dual-screening shoppers.
eBay Enterprise head of marketing solutions EMEA Luke Griffiths said: “It is vital that marketers do not allow their strategy to ‘fall back’ with the clocks as British Summer Time comes to an end this weekend. With the changing of the clocks marking the beginning of winter for many consumers, it is important that marketers position themselves to take advantage by focusing on segmenting and targeting their customers based on specific observed behaviours.”