Rebel head of marketing Brock Coleman has reported fewer transactions during the sporting brand’s Click Frenzy sales event in May, but an uplift in basket size.
He said the revelation came from its top-line sales number, which is a gross sales number indicating how much revenue a business accrued for a given period.
“It made me wonder about how much customers were really waiting for these moments to then invest and spend their money and ideally save some as well,” Coleman said at Ragtrader Live.
“So potentially fewer transactions, but a much bigger basket. It shows that there’s probably a little bit of separation in the market - those who are probably struggling from a financial standpoint compared to those who aren't as much.”
Meanwhile, Coleman said artificial intelligence, customer relationship management and loyalty will be key marketing opportunities for Rebel in the future.
“But, I would probably pare it back to value perception in totality, and what we can do to offer customers value through all the touchpoints that we have,” he said.
“Value perception to me is going to be quite crucial and that is more so just outside of price - price will be considered but you have to have trust in your teams that you'll be competitive in that space.
“Price will always be there, but from a marketing standpoint, I see it as a hygiene factor. It's all the other parts wrapped around it, and then how do you talk to customers about that holistically?
“How do you have exclusive offers that tie customers and get them more integrated into your brand through experiences?”
Coleman said the member pricing in its Rebel Active loyalty program has been undergoing review for the last six months.
He then added the next area of concern within value perception is personalisation. He said Rebel is just beginning to understand and unlock personalisation strategies.
"That really unlocks time and convenience for customers," Brock said. “This is a huge value to all customers out there - especially for those who have families and kids.
“And then breadth and depth of range can offer a lot of value. So best brands - getting them in front of customers or communicating to them as soon as they drop.
“And then lastly is just around retail. How do you go to market? Or how do you provide the best experience online and offline for customers?
“So I wrap all that up under value perception, where we certainly have a job to do from a Rebel perspective, and I think most retailers will in the coming 12 months.”