Insights

Forget the hype – what do people’s personal statements and purchase behavior say about how Brexit will affect us?

Find the market facts you really need with intelligence from Consumer Life.

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.

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!

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.

It’s the golden quarter and this year, with Black Friday falling on November 23rd, we are now just 50 days away!

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).

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!

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!

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.

GfK has once again placed among the most innovative market research firms worldwide, according to an annual ranking published by the American Marketing Association.

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.

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.

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.

Flexible, interesting and valued, Your career as a Face to Face Market Research Interviewer with GfK.

As we come to the end of the season, the BBQs market has settled on 11.9% value growth (Jan-Sep YoY).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

After a particularly strong start to the season, the garden care market has settled into more modest growth (+3.1% value Jan–June YoY).

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.

Over the last 12 months DIY decorative sundries* have been in decline by -6.4% value and -7.9% volume year-on-year (YOY).

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.

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.

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.

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.

GfK is delighted that Jackie Megahey has been appointed a Fellow of our UK Industry body, the Market Research society (MRS).

Mobile World Congress 2017 highlighted a potential shift in the UK mobile market brand and model landscape.

GfK experts Imran Choudhary and Ranj Dale summarise the key highlights from the show.

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.

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!

Alongside cooling, washing machines have been instrumental in driving Total MDA value (+6%) and volume (+7%) growth in 2016.

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.

Vacuum cleaners sales have grown consistently over recent years with the introduction of new product types fuelling greater purchases.

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.

The power tools* market experienced modest growth in 2016. Sales volumes increased by 3.1%, outpacing value growth of 1.1%.

Growing popularity and demand for Gaming and 2 in 1 devices paved the way for innovative launches at CES 2017.

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.

Of UK consumers agree they only buy from trusted brands +7 pts. vs. 2011

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.

Continued growth in the international cruise market highlights an increasing important segment of the international market.

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.

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.

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.

To win new consumers and inspire existing ones, alcohol companies need to bottle their inspiration – it’s about selling experience, not just drinks.

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.

With the housing market picking up and a wider trend towards open plan living, integrated appliances have been big winners over the past couple of years. Ovens have enjoyed sustained growth over this period and value sales across the year have increased 15%. This makes it one of the top performing categories in major appliances and brings the value of the market up to £312million.

The value of the retail IT market declined by 8% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same quarter the previous year. Declines in traditional computing form factors and tablets were the primary cause of this drop but there were also surprise falls in the value of the storage and networking markets. Despite this, gaming products remain an opportunity for the channel.

In 2015, for the first time since the GfK consumer confidence began, an entire calendar year was spent in positive numbers. This has translated into a strong year for major domestic appliance sales, with total MDA 8* sales up 5.8% year-on-year (YOY) in value terms despite a 2.5% drop in average selling price. Tumble dryers and dishwashers were the top appliances, with +12% and +10% YOY value growth respectively.

The wild bird care market has shown a remarkably strong performance during 2015*, registering value growth in both volume (18%) and value (15%) vs. 2014.  This is despite the recent mild weather, in fact the UK experienced the warmest December and third warmest November since 1910.

It has been a positive year so far for UK homewares, showing an overall value growth of 3% with volume up 2.5%.