31.01.2020
News
Forget the hype – what do people’s personal statements and purchase behavior say about how Brexit will affect us?
28.10.2019
News
Find the market facts you really need with intelligence from Consumer Life.
02.09.2019
News
How are consumers using voice to control their gadgets? What are the opportunities for brands and retailers? Discover the future of voice in our Thought Leadership hub.
11.03.2019
News
Last week - hot out of Mobile World Congress - our director of tech research, Imran Choudhary, posted the key take-outs of the latest and greatest devices and trends that we can look forward to in 2019. Click to read all the highlights!
06.12.2018
News
Recent trends across multiple sectors that we track in DIY and Trade show that increasing prices are helping to maintain value sales. This is despite slowing volumes – and we are now seeing the same trend in the Plumbers Merchants channel. The first two months of year on year growth show average price increases of 4% and 3% for August and September 2018 respectively for the Gas Boilers market.
01.11.2018
News
GfK’s Eszter Boczan is joining Barclay’s Carol Ashby at the MRS Financial Services Conference 2018 to deliver insights on how banks can build brand trust, engagement and loyalty through their branch window communications – with the help of neuroscience.
04.10.2018
News
It’s the golden quarter and this year, with Black Friday falling on November 23rd, we are now just 50 days away!
20.07.2018
News
Read the findings of our recent test on some ads that were airing in the UK during the World Cup, all from the same product category (consumer electronics).
09.07.2018
News
What should we really be focusing on when selecting a pricing tool? In this article we give you 3 simple requirements you should consider when choosing an online pricing tool that delivers real value!
14.06.2018
News
With the tournament kicking off in Russia this month, May and June represent crucial months for sales in the UK TV market. To win the lion’s share of this opportunity, TV manufacturers and retailers are focusing hard on competitive pricing and product promotion to entice shoppers. What's the best pricing strategy? Where should you focus your promotional activity? Find out more in our blog!
04.06.2018
News
What is the real impact of big sporting events on sales? We've combined a range of our data to show how next month's World Cup will affect TV sales (taking just one example product). Watch our technology expert, Zak Haeri, to discover the key findings from our data.
31.05.2018
News
GfK has once again placed among the most innovative market research firms worldwide, according to an annual ranking published by the American Marketing Association.
11.01.2018
News
December 2017 was always going to be tough, set against a backdrop of low consumer confidence, economic uncertainty and rising inflation.
10.01.2018
News
Traditional market research is dying. The future of research involves constant testing and developing research approaches using tools such as voice and text analysis, artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioural economics, to name a few. Read all about the future of market research in our Future of Research series!
10.01.2018
News
Understand the opportunities and implications of new trends, consumer behaviours and expectations in your industry so you can win consumers’ ongoing trust and loyalty. We have wrapped all the need-to-know consumer insights to help you start planning your 2018 strategies.
02.01.2018
News
We are looking for bright graduates with an expected or achieved minimum 2:1 (or above) in any subject, who are dedicated to developing a career in research for our 2017 intake.
26.11.2017
News
We all thought it, and perhaps even knew it! We’ve seen the rise of online sales in Black Friday weeks across the last few years, but now it’s official, for the consumer durable categories as tracked by GfK, more sales now take place online than off.
06.11.2017
News
Flexible, interesting and valued, Your career as a Face to Face Market Research Interviewer with GfK.
02.11.2017
News
As we come to the end of the season, the BBQs market has settled on 11.9% value growth (Jan-Sep YoY).
01.11.2017
News
The garden hand tools market has struggled in 2017*. Volume sales have fallen 11% for the year to September compared to the same period last year.
26.10.2017
News
Major appliances has seen a slowdown in volume over the last few months although value remains more robust increasing 8% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017 compared to last year amounting to £343m.
07.08.2017
News
Since arriving in this country, Black Friday has become a key date in UK shopping. This is equally true for the mobile market. If we look back to Black Friday 2015, total Smart-Mobile sales grew +29% compared to the week prior to Black Friday.
04.08.2017
News
The rise of Black Friday in the UK over the past few years has been staggering. The US-imported sales frenzy has radically altered the composition of our traditional peak period, pulling an increasing number of sales from both sides of Black Friday.
02.08.2017
News
The PC market is no exception in regards to the growing importance of Black Friday in the shopping calendar. Despite strong promotional price cuts, the value of the PC space still benefitted, with Mobile Computing showing +9% YoY value growth in 2016.
01.08.2017
News
Total Personal Care saw a moderate increase of 6% over the second quarter of 2017. The best performing category is hair dryers gaining by 60% year on year whilst volume declined by 4% over the same period as average prices rise by £13. The shavers and dental care categories also saw growth at 8% and 7% respectively.
01.08.2017
News
Growth for the second quarter of 2017 in the MDA market has fared better than the first which was only slightly above zero.
27.07.2017
News
The Consumer Durables market has always been fuelled by innovation, some successful and some less so. The latest wave of innovation is Smart technology, which is influencing many electrical products, some outside of the conventional consumer electronics categories.
26.07.2017
News
Political and economic uncertainty has always had a bearing on our spending habits as consumers, and during these times of financial insecurity, we often think twice about spending decisions.
26.07.2017
News
After a particularly strong start to the season, the garden care market has settled into more modest growth (+3.1% value Jan–June YoY).
26.07.2017
News
The powered gardening* market experienced modest growth over the year to date (Jan-Jun17).
18.06.2017
News
Why do three out of four new product launches fail to achieve their potential? One area that is of paramount importance is to truly understand the target customer. Who is this product for? What are their unmet needs? And what will make them hand over their hard-earned cash? Read on to discover more.
12.05.2017
News
How much a product costs is an important factor; not just for consumers but also for retailers. For the consumer this doesn’t simply mean that cheapest is always the best option, but price is an important part of most buying decisions.
12.05.2017
News
Imagine this – you’re walking through any given department store, home furnishings retailer (or even supermarket these days) when you see the most beautiful sofa table in green marble and you decide to splash out and go for it. It then turns out upon delivery that your new fancy sofa table is actually bigger than your living room, and you end up feeling pretty disappointed.
08.05.2017
News
Over the last 12 months DIY decorative sundries* have been in decline by -6.4% value and -7.9% volume year-on-year (YOY).
08.05.2017
News
There is still considerable consternation among many in the consumer electronics industry that Brexit will have a negative effect on market volume sales and turnover in 2017 and beyond.
08.05.2017
News
The retail IT market continued to see challenging conditions in the first quarter of 2017, with the value generated by sales of IT products falling by 5% compared to the first quarter of 2016.
05.05.2017
News
The total paint* market achieved its twelfth consecutive month of decline. This fall reached -8.2% in value and was even bigger in litres (-9.5%) in the first quarter of 2017 versus 2016.
04.05.2017
News
Total Small Kitchen Appliances (SKA) saw a drop in value of over 9% in the first 3 months of 2017 with the majority of categories declining including kettles, toasters and food preparation.
04.05.2017
News
The first quarter of 2017 has seen less growth for MDA than last year with total value growth only slightly below 1%. Cooking is one product group which has stayed relatively flat, down 1% at £189million.
21.04.2017
News
GfK is delighted that Jackie Megahey has been appointed a Fellow of our UK Industry body, the Market Research society (MRS).
05.04.2017
News
Mobile World Congress 2017 highlighted a potential shift in the UK mobile market brand and model landscape.
06.03.2017
News
GfK experts Imran Choudhary and Ranj Dale summarise the key highlights from the show.
16.02.2017
News
All in all, 2016 has been a successful year for tyre manufacturers in the UK. Following the increasing number of SUVs on the road, 4x4 tyre sales grew notably by 18% units sold* yoy, but overall GfK’s Panel Market GB was flat.
16.02.2017
News
It’s often been said that the world is divided into two kinds of people; those who like to spend their holidays seeing and doing things, and others who just want to lie on the beach. Recent global research from GfK shows that the truth is a little more complicated.
15.02.2017
News
Consumers are more connected than ever. New technologies and the benefits they bring have a significant impact on people’s behavior and their relationships with brands. Find out what that means for your business!
31.01.2017
News
Alongside cooling, washing machines have been instrumental in driving Total MDA value (+6%) and volume (+7%) growth in 2016.
31.01.2017
News
Whilst a positive result is often referred to as Christmas coming early, given the uncertainty of the past 6 months, our retailers were just grateful that Christmas came at all this year. And come it did, with overall year on year December retail growth up 4.3%, and all the big generalist retailers making lots of positive noise around December/Xmas trading results.
31.01.2017
News
Although the referendum vote to leave the European Union caused anxiety about its effect on business (as indicated by the pessimism and caution registered in GfK’s post referendum consumer confidence survey) sales of electrical durables over the second half of 2016 appeared largely unaffected.
31.01.2017
News
Every year in January the word “gym membership” peaks in number of searches on Google and the gyms across the UK are filled with people determined to start a new, healthier life. GfK data shows that health and fitness is not just a January fling but is instead becoming a key feature of our general lifestyles.
30.01.2017
News
There’s no doubt that since the introduction of Black Friday in the UK and the subsequent years that followed, the shape of Christmas trading has changed. Both retailers and manufacturers have had to embrace this, in an attempt to ensure they retain and grow their slice of the pie during the key final quarter of the calendar year.
24.01.2017
News
Vacuum cleaners sales have grown consistently over recent years with the introduction of new product types fuelling greater purchases.
24.01.2017
News
2015 was a strong year for the bird care market, growing 15% in value compared to 2014. 2015 was a strong year for the bird care market, growing 15% in value compared to 2014. Growth continued on into 2016, with a 6% increase in both value and volume making 2016 the most valuable year in the past 5.
24.01.2017
News
The power tools* market experienced modest growth in 2016. Sales volumes increased by 3.1%, outpacing value growth of 1.1%.
24.01.2017
News
Growing popularity and demand for Gaming and 2 in 1 devices paved the way for innovative launches at CES 2017.
17.01.2017
News
We talk about the sharing economy as if it is a fairly new concept, but is it really that new or is it simply an old behaviour reinvented and enabled by technology?
14.12.2016
News
2016 has been a tumultuous year, and it’s still unclear what the consequences of the Brexit vote, the policies of President-elect Trump, and the economic slowdown in previously high-growth regions such as China will be.
07.12.2016
News
Of UK consumers agree they only buy from trusted brands +7 pts. vs. 2011
07.12.2016
News
Reignited hype and significant financial backing suggests we may be teetering on the edge of a second wave of virtual reality (VR) success. 20 years of inconspicuous availability is now overshadowed as expectations have surged. Some of the world’s largest companies are in support of VR, while PC and mobile manufacturer launches have driven momentum in 2016. Now up for debate is whether VR will become a mass market entity, and how.
06.12.2016
News
Continued growth in the international cruise market highlights an increasing important segment of the international market.
17.11.2016
News
As we now enter the month of November we are getting ever closer to the most important day in the retail calendar Black Friday, or are we? Over the past three years this single day has represented the most important day in the retail calendar. However we are already seeing through early communication from retailers that the focus may not be just on this single day.
04.11.2016
News
I think it’s safe to say that 2016 has been one of the most interesting years since the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) started back in 1974. The monthly survey we carry out for the European Commission among UK consumers started the year in a resiliently bullish mood, increasing two points to +4 in January. But we quickly saw concerns about the EU Referendum. In February, the Overall Index Score dropped four points back to zero.
31.10.2016
News
2016 has seen the UK tyre market spring back to growth after a prolonged period of decline. Innovation has been a contributory factor to growth with new ranges from key manufacturers selling well from launch.
27.10.2016
News
Our last newsletter was written in the wake of the unexpected Brexit vote, the subsequent market reaction, and the historic 9 point drop in consumer confidence that had the industry reeling with uncertainty. Fear and panic had us in their icy grasp, and then, well nothing much really seemed to happen, and business as usual continued across the summer.
27.10.2016
News
The garden hand tools market has seen positive development in 2016 with 6% and 3% volume and value growth respectively year to date to September. The largest months of the year (May to July) all reported strong growth, in fact only two months of 2016 have seen declines.
27.10.2016
News
This year, the barbecues market has grown 2.9% in value, (Jan-Sep15 vs Jan-Sep16). Volume has grown more rapidly, with +17.6% growth compared to last year. This volume increase has been driven by disposable barbecues.
26.10.2016
News
For a number of years the cooling sector outperformed that of all other white goods with value sales rising around £280million since the recession led low of 2009.
24.10.2016
News
The key trends affecting the IT retail market is agile working and PC gaming with areas such as desk computing, mobile computing and monitors all benefiting from growth.
24.10.2016
News
The Consumer Electronics market has been relatively stable in the first nine months of 2016. We might even have expected better, given the stimulus of a European football championship with significant participation from British and Irish teams. This enabled retailers to sell a wide variety of ever larger TVs that were increasingly likely to be 4K Ultra high definition, not forgetting a minority of OLED products.
24.10.2016
News
Nothing seems to grab the attention of GB like a large sporting event and with 2016 having both the European football championship and Rio Olympics, there appears to be no better time to upgrade your TV.
24.10.2016
News
In the run up to the festive period, the anticipation of Black Friday’s impact on Christmas 2015 retail sales was high.
24.10.2016
News
With British consumers spending increasing amounts of time and money on their appearance, it comes as no surprise that female depilation has witnessed a value uplift over the past year of 5.2%, reaching £63 million over the last MAT. This has been boosted by the higher average temperatures over summer, as well as the unseasonably sunny spring.
14.10.2016
News
As we hurtle towards the end of the year everyone is talking about Black Friday 2016. This retail event has changed a lot in its short life this side of the pond, and we know it will continue to change as strategies from both manufacturers and retailers evolve from the learnings of previous years.
11.10.2016
News
To win new consumers and inspire existing ones, alcohol companies need to bottle their inspiration – it’s about selling experience, not just drinks.
06.10.2016
News
Find out the thoughts and findings of the GfK team who attended the Smart Summit 2016.
05.10.2016
News
Since the referendum on June 23rd and the decision of the British people to leave the European Union, brands and marketers have been contemplating what it means for them, and how, if at all, they should adapt their strategy and communications to appeal to the residents of a Disunited Kingdom.
25.08.2016
News
As the recent referendum result has shown, the British people are more riven by divisions that at any point in the past 50 years. There are many uncertainties ahead, as well as unanswered and unanswerable questions. One immediate question that brands and companies in all sectors should be asking is, how to effectively speak to and address the needs of British consumers.
10.08.2016
News
Helen Roberts, consumer and retail lead at Gfk, assesses what industry data is telling us about the current market.
05.08.2016
News
Despite being close together geographically the Irish and UK markets vary in a number of ways, and it is important to consider these intricate differences when pulling together a strategy for the Irish market. Key changes in the market, as well as the buoyancy of the core computing categories in 2015, have ensured that increased focus is being given to Ireland by manufacturers and retailers alike.
03.08.2016
News
The second quarter of 2016 saw continued challenges to the retail Information Technology (IT) market. The overall market declined in value by 6% compared with the same period of 2015. Both traditional computing and tablets contributed significantly to this drop, and areas such as storage and networking that had previously been strong also slipped into decline. However, some areas of IT, many associated with PC gaming products, provide something of a silver lining.
29.07.2016
News
With access to more devices and new formats of viewing than ever before, the video viewing landscape is changing rapidly. We’re now viewing videos not only at home and on the go, but also across multiple devices. Subscription video on demand (SVOD) services in particular is growing fast. According to BARB, UK households subscribing to Netflix, Amazon Video and Now TV have increased from 14% to 24% year on year.
28.07.2016
News
Life used to be blissfully straightforward for marketers. Selling a product or service? Create messaging which links your brand to a need state and make your wares physically available. The media plan wrote itself; TV, magazine, even outdoor if you were feeling adventurous.
27.07.2016
News
Connectivity has become key as technology strives to keep pace with our increasingly frenetic lives. Devices’ ability to interact has enabled individuals to replace a plethora of task-specific products with a handful of multi-functional gadgets – most notably, the smartphone. GfK’s recent Smart Home study found that smartphones led the way as the preferred method for controlling smart home products, with over 70% of respondents favouring this device.
27.07.2016
News
Major sporting events often provide an injection of life to the TV market, and this summer proved no exception. Despite the misplaced optimism in England’s chance of Euro 2016 glory, the presence of three home nations – England, Northern Ireland and Wales – brought a much-needed boost to TV sales after a relatively muted start to the year. Our Point-of-Sales data observed year-on-year growth for March, April, May, and June, with April’s growth being particularly impressive given that Easter fell in this month the previous year.
26.07.2016
News
Across powered gardening, the hot segment has been cordless, going up by 14.4% in volume terms and 21.3% in value. Cordless lawnmowers grew by 88% in volume terms, and hedge trimmers continued to improve, growing by 4%. Grass trimmers became the leading cordless segment through 15% volume growth. With ongoing research and investment in battery technologies, cordless gardening is set to continue to develop.
26.07.2016
News
With consumers increasingly choosing to entertain guests at home and a wider variety of wine becoming more accessible to the British public, it comes as no surprise that wine cabinets have recorded double-digit year-on-year volume growth over the last two years and have grown by nearly 50% in value over the last four, already being worth £8 million in the first half of 2016. When considering both standard and premium kitchens, consumers are starting to see wine cabinets as a desirable, must-have fixture.
26.07.2016
News
Approximately a month after the Brexit vote and still the main theme of commentary focusses on the uncertainty facing the country. Whilst the quicker-than-anticipated appointment of Teresa May to prime minister , and her creation of a Brexit committee to strike the best deal for Britain has gone some way to calming the raging markets, the fact remains that until Article 50 is invoked, and we get into the nitty gritty of negotiation, nobody can anticipate what Brexit will actually mean.
26.07.2016
News
Garden care has had a mixed performance so far in 2016. After April saw double digit decline, May, the highest value month, was dry and sunny, causing an increase in total garden care value by 14% year-on-year. June of this year was wetter than in 2015, and saw a decline of 7.6%.
25.07.2016
News
The key technology drivers of 2016 have clearly emerged as we enter into the second half of the year. Our Point of Sales Tracking (POS) data shows how dynamic the technology market is changing. From tracking steps, to remotely setting the temperature of the home; smart products are becoming increasingly prevalent in day-to-day life.
25.07.2016
News
Cleaning habits are evolving: instead of vacuuming for an hour once or twice a week, consumers are now doing so more frequently and for shorter periods of time. Lightweight cordless vacuums enable the cleaning of large areas quickly, using minimal effort, allowing consumers more time to dedicate to their increasingly active lifestyles; consumers are willing to pay premium prices for this convenience, which lends itself to a larger movement in the market towards consumer-centric convenience also evidenced by the increased popularity of take-away cup blenders and capsule coffee.
21.07.2016
News
Pokémon Go is the new augmented reality game released by Niantic over the last two weeks that has taken the world and social media by storm. Players take the role of Pokémon trainers, and use their smartphones to capture monsters that are overlaid onto the real world using the smartphone’s camera. They are tasked with collecting all 151 Pokémon, and game play also includes using real world locations as PokéStops – where special items can be found, and Pokémon Gyms - where players can battle Pokémon left by other trainers.
20.07.2016
News
The aspirational consumer appears to be alive and well if the double digit uplift in major appliances is anything to go by. In the year-to-date, value grew by 12%thanks to a strong performance in the home laundry and cooking categories. Tumble dryers were the top performer, increasing 23%, a turnaround from the 10% decline recorded last year over the same period.
19.07.2016
News
After a strong performance in 2015 small domestic appliances has witnessed a slow down over the first half of 2016. Total volume declined by 5% year on year and the value decline, although shallower at -2.5%, is a far cry from the 16% growth seen in 2015.
29.06.2016
News
Since the Olympics are a momentous event for people around the world, so is for marketers, Facebook commissioned a GfK study early this year to explore the topics about global sports, Olympics fans and how technology affects such sports events.
28.06.2016
News
Although the performance of the Irish consumer electronics market was more robust than the vast majority of other European countries, including Great Britain, the first half of 2016 will have brought conflicting emotions to manufacturers and retailers. The strong performance of newer technology continued unabated, as demonstrated by the increased prominence of 4K ultra high definition TV, wireless audio streaming and multiroom systems in particular, but declines of older products like DVD/Blu-ray, portable media players and set top boxes counterbalanced the good news and meant that total consumer electronics declined by 2.5% against the first half of 2015. However, there was an extra week added to 2015 and our January 2016 data started on 3rd January, therefore missing key sales immediately after December 26th, whereas the January 2015 reporting period started on December 28th 2014, which will impact slightly.
08.06.2016
News
These are exciting times for those of us who work in the packaging space of the global FMCG community.In recent years, we’ve finally seen the role of our discipline begin to receive some of the recognition that we, naturally, believe it deserves. Just going into a store presents the opportunity to be visually assaulted by the amazing diversity of packaging structures and graphics on display. Not just that – we are also seeing entirely new levels of innovation and imagination in the form of vibrant, iconic colours, shapes and other proprietary elements. Brand owners recognise the commercial power of investing in the physical manifestation of their brands’ personalities.
08.06.2016
News
The difference between buying a product and then actually living with it is a bit like choosing a flatmate. Your first choice might automatically be the person you have most fun with: the one who makes you laugh and who’s always up for an adventure. But is that always the right decision?
31.05.2016
News
Opportunities in the Mobile Broadband markets are opening up for both operators and device manufacturers as more consumers are taking out a Contract Tariffs to support the mobile connection of a second device.
26.05.2016
News
“The days of insurance being viewed as ‘boring’ are coming to an end…” Here is your starter for ten. What springs to mind when insurance is mentioned? If like most people downbeat words such “boring” “baffling” or even “painful” come to mind, you are not alone.
26.05.2016
News
“Fintech and the advance of developing markets” Few newspaper editors would yell ‘stop the presses!’ (or, more likely, ‘update the webpages!’) if a journalist came to them with a story that major technology companies like Apple and Google are increasingly encroaching on territory traditionally dominated by established financial institutions.
26.05.2016
News
“Creating Opportunities for the unbanked” Even in the aftermath of the Financial Crash, the reversal of payday lender Wonga’s fortunes has been remarkable.
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