ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, head of research and analysis, ExchangeWire. In this week’s edition: Black Friday: path to purchase; The use of bad language; Quality of short form digital video; and Newsletters aren’t dead.

Black Friday: path to purchase

It takes online shoppers six days to purchase Black Friday bargains, from initial research to purchase, according to research by Rakuten Marketing.

The findings show that while Black Friday causes a 20-hour cut in the total time taken to convert compared to the average weekend, consumers in the UK, US, and Australia still take nearly six days (142 hours) from their first online interaction with a brand to purchase. This means the purchase journey begins on the preceding Saturday and, although retailers aim to drive impulsive purchases with a discount day, the customer remains considered in their shopping habits.

Evidence of a shortened customer journey around Black Friday is most apparent in the number of online advertisements consumers see before making a purchase. While the average number of impressions across retail sectors including fashion, technology, and beauty is just over 22 during an average weekend, on Black Friday consumers view less than five ads before transacting.

When it comes to actual conversions on Black Friday, tablet managed the highest conversion rate with an impressive 11% of conversions, followed by PC (9%), and mobile phone (4%).

The use of bad language  

UK businesses could be wasting £1.26m (USD1.57m) a year by using language ineffectively when they communicate with customers, suggests research from Illuma Research in partnership with The Writer.

The study finds that businesses in the UK think good language can increase how effective their customer experience spend is by 16%, and that average annual investment on customer experience initiatives stands at £7.9m (USD$9.8m).

Even though they know effective language has a big impact, businesses believe they communicate better in their least important channels for customer experience. Websites are the most important channel, and the place where businesses think they communicate best. But after that, it’s a different story. They see call centres as the second most important channel, but only 61% think they communicate well there. Although it is generally seen as less important, 70% think they communicate very well over email.

Quality of short-form digital video

More than half (52%) of 18-24 year-olds prefer short-form digital video, according to a new study from AOL. The research finds that quality is essential, as over half (58%) said they lose patience if the production quality of video is not good enough.

Four-in-10 consumers (41%) said they would prefer brands to be featured in the video they are trying to watch rather than putting ads before it, challenging marketers to deliver innovative new video ad experiences and thoughtful brand integration.

The study reveals five key trends for short form video:

- Growth & viewing: The volume of videos viewed by consumers increased over 12 months by more than 50% across all ages, with 25-34 year-old’s growth highest at 69%.

- Sharing & quality: Almost two-thirds (63%) of consumers say sharing is a reflection of themselves and will share only the best content.

- Watching vs reading: The three most popular sources for finding short-form videos online are video streaming sites (59%), social media (53%), and news websites (50%).

- Value Exchange: Almost half (47%) of consumers say that if they are watching a video they like, they don’t mind if a brand is prominent throughout the video.

- Innovation: Nearly two-thirds (63%) say brands need to think of more interesting ways than pre-roll ads to drive engagement.

Newsletters aren’t dead

Branded content that supports publishers looking to integrate and promote sponsored content within newsletters are increasing views by more than 15% via newsletters, finds Polar.

Engagement time also increased. Improved branded content doubles this metric, with the average engagement time for newsletter audiences standing at 5 minutes 24 seconds.

Polar predicts that, despite 79% of publishers relying on paid distribution to meet the minimum number of views to branded content they guarantee their clients, the newsletter is not dead. At present, only 11% of publishers use email and newsletter for branded content.

Publishers who continue to rely solely on driving views to sponsored content programs via onsite native ads will face an uphill battle. The main obstacles will be the widespread adoption of ad-blocking technology and increasing nature of off-site content consumption on mobile.