covid-stimulus

Here’s How Americans Are Spending Their Stimulus Checks

Within 10 days of receipt, those who had received the stimulus payments had spent $600 more than those for whom the check hadn’t yet appeared.

When Congress passed a $2 trillion aid package in late March, part of its goal was to give a quick adrenaline shot to the sputtering economy in the form of $1,200 stimulus checks for eligible individuals.

researchers have provided early answers to these questions based on real-time transaction-level spending data. They find that stimulus recipients are parting with their money remarkably quickly; on average, Americans spent roughly a third of the government-issued funds within 10 days of receiving it.

The biggest predictor of who burns through the money most quickly isn’t income, or even loss of a paycheck. Rather, it was liquidity: those with less money in their bank accounts when the check arrived tended to spend more of their check right away.

In the past recessions, a significant portion of the checks went to big durables purchases, like cars—but in 2020, much more of the spending is devoted to groceries and takeout food, as well as to catching up on rent and bill payments.

When the researchers divided the sample into four groups based on monthly income, they found stark contrasts in how quickly the money left users’ accounts.

Those in the lowest income group, who earned less than $1,000 per month, spent about 40 percent of the checks in the first ten days. That was twice as much as the highest income group (those making over $5,000 a month), who spent closer to 20 percent in that brief period. Because the sample is skewed towards households with lower incomes, Baker notes that usage of stimulus funds nationwide may more closely resemble this higher-income portion of the sample.

People with the highest amounts of cash on hand—$3,000 or more in their checking accounts—had no response to the appearance of their stimulus check. On the other hand, those who maintained accounts with $500 or less spent almost half of the deposits—44.5 cents per every dollar—within 10 days.

Compared to stimulus recipients in past recessions, people today are spending much more of their stimulus money on food, Baker notes. The study found large jumps in restaurant takeout and delivery in particular, with spending in these subcategories surging by about 300 percent in the first few days after the stimulus checks arrived.

Their sample included 5,746 users, about 30 percent of whom received the government stimulus check within the first week of distribution. 

Source: Northwestern’s Kellogg School

pandemic-blog

Four Steps to Navigate the Pandemic

It’s hard to imagine a more challenging environment for marketers than the current moment. With a global pandemic affecting the way nearly everyone in the world works and lives, nothing feels certain anymore. And even the uncertainties are shifting rapidly.

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Worldwide Digital Economy Snapshot

There’s a big wide world of internet users out there. Tufts University took a look at what is moving the needle in the top 50 internet countries.

The Digital Evolution Index (DEI), created by the Fletcher School at Tufts University (with support from Mastercard and DataCash), is derived from four broad drivers: supply-side factors (including access, fulfillment, and transactions infrastructure); demand-side factors (including consumer behaviors and trends, financial and Internet and social media savviness); innovations (including the entrepreneurial, technological and funding ecosystems, presence and extent of disruptive forces and the presence of a start-up culture and mindset); and institutions (including government effectiveness and its role in business, laws and regulations and promoting the digital ecosystem). The resulting index includes a ranking of 50 countries, which were chosen because they are either home to most of the current 3 billion internet users or they are where the next billion users are likely to come from.

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Stand Out countries have shown high levels of digital development in the past and continue to remain on an upward trajectory.
Stall Out countries have achieved a high level of evolution in the past but are losing momentum and risk falling behind.
Break Out countries have the potential to develop strong digital economies. Though their overall score is still low, they are moving upward and are poised to become Stand Out countries in the future.
Watch Out countries face significant opportunities and challenges, with low scores on both current level and upward motion of their DEI. Some may be able to overcome limitations with clever innovations and stopgap measures, while others seem to be stuck.

Via Harvard Business Review

Mobile App Install Screen

Google to punish sites with mobile app nag screens

Good news! Google is fighting the good fight, taking on websites that turn up their nose at good user experience.

If you’ve ever tapped on a search result on your phone only to see a giant ad imploring you to install the site’s app, you know how annoying that can be. Google realizes that too, thanks to its own internal study that showed users often don’t click through when they encounter these ads. Now Google wants to change that by downranking sites that pull such a stunt. Starting November 1st, any site that uses large app install interstitials will no longer be deemed “mobile-friendly” by Google, which could spell disaster for the site’s SEO. Other interstitials will still be okay, however, and Google is encouraging the use of less obtrusive app install banners instead. While ads aren’t going away entirely — this is Google, after all — at least it looks like they’ll be less aggravating in the future.

Via Engadget

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New Research Shows How Digital Connects Shoppers to Local Stores

While some might say that the rise of digital has made the role of the local retail store obsolete, new research from Google suggests that the relationship between digital and in-store shopping is far more nuanced and interconnected than that. In gaining an understanding of the impact of digital on in-store shopping, we were able to debunk three common retail myths. We also identified ways retailers can use digital more effectively to connect with consumers. With two in three consumers not finding the information they need in-store and 43% then leaving frustrated, digital presents an opportunity for retailers to improve the in-store shopping experience.

The retail industry is undergoing a dramatic shift: In-store foot traffic is down, online research is up and smartphones are becoming increasingly important to the consumer’s in-store shopping journey. Here we debunk three common myths associated with the impact of digital on in-store shopping. We’ll also highlight how consumers’ digital behavior affects—and in fact, helps—retail stores today.

Myth #1: Search results only send consumers to e-commerce sites.

The Reality: Search results are also a powerful way to drive consumers to stores.

A common myth is that as a result of searching online, shoppers will only visit e-commerce sites. In reality, three out of four shoppers who find local information in search results helpful are more likely to visit stores. The lesson for retailers here is simple: Digital is a powerful way to connect consumers with stores.

Myth #2: Once in-store consumers start looking at their smartphone, the retailer loses their attention.

The Reality: Retailers can grab consumers’ attention through search results and their mobile site or app.

Digital is transforming the in-store experience for customers. Our study shows that 42% of in-store shoppers search for information online while in-store. For the most part, they’re using search engines (64%). However, almost half of shoppers head to the retailer’s own site or app. Only 30% will look up details from a different retailer’s web site or app. This presents a powerful opportunity for retailers to connect with consumers—and prevent them from turning to the competition.

Retailers can use their online presence—website, apps, mobile ads and search results—to assist shoppers in-store. This includes the integration of local information in their online presence. Geo-targeting content and ads helps retailers connect with shoppers who may be in close proximity to their store or already there.

Myth #3: Online research has lowered consumers’ expectations of stores; they really just go to a store to transact.

The Reality: Consumers visit stores for more than just a purchase, and their expectations of retailers are higher than before. They’re looking for an informative, customized experience.

Some retailers fear that today’s consumers are so well informed before they step into a store that the shop itself has become nothing but a playground for a quick transaction. In fact, people are visiting stores throughout their purchase journey—even before making a purchase. Thirty-two percent of shoppers visit stores when they’re first thinking about a purchase, and 33% actively research in stores to find out more about a potential purchase.

The consumer path to purchase is becoming increasingly mobile. Retailers that provide relevant, local information via search and online presence (mobile app and site) will increase both reach and engagement. Digital has fundamentally reshaped the shopping journey—in a good way—and savvy retailers who make use of it to attract and engage consumers will find themselves ahead of the competition.

See the full findings and report at Google’s blog.

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The 3 New Realities of Local Retail According to Google

The relationship between digital and local stores is changing. Google found three new realities of retail: digital drives in-store traffic; smartphones are in-store shopping assistants and varied shopping habits call for a holistic approach to measuring retail success. Savvy retailers are learning how to reach customers by better connecting the online to the offline and by caring less about where a sale happens and more about how to help shoppers convert.

New reality #1: Digital drives in-store traffic

As it turns out, digital doesn’t just drive e-commerce. It actually gets consumers into local stores. A 2014 study on local search behavior found that 50% of consumers will visit a store within one day of a local search on their smartphone. Scott Zalaznik, Sprint’s vice president of digital, has seen digital’s influence on offline shopping firsthand: “Ninety percent of our customers start their journey online but buy in-store.”

New reality #2: Smartphones are in-store shopping assistants

Thanks to our constantly connected world, we’ve become accustomed to instantaneous answers and a wealth of information at our fingertips, but not all retailers have translated this well into in-store experiences. Shoppers are increasingly frustrated by the lack of in-store information. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they couldn’t find the details they needed while visiting a store. Many, as a result, are turning to their smartphone to fill in the information gap. Of the 42% who research online while in stores, almost half use the retailer’s own site or app. And one in three shoppers actually prefer to use their smartphone to find additional information rather than ask a store employee for help.

New reality #3: Omnichannel shopping calls for omnichannel measurement

Though shopping habits have changed drastically, retailers haven’t necessarily caught up in the ways they measure their marketing efforts and allocate their media spend. Most retailers don’t yet understand the extent to which digital drives in-store transactions and how in-store visits affect online purchases. The result is that they’re often viewing sales in silos and undervaluing the real impact of their digital spend on total sales. Consequently, they’re making suboptimal decisions about their media mix.

Macys.com’s Serena Potter says the brand has placed a special focus on understanding just how much of local business sales come from digital searches. “We’ve been able to show that for every dollar we invest in search, we drive $6 of sales in-store,” she says.

See the full blog post here, at Google’s Blog.

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The look of letters – a history of typefaces you’ll recognize

For every news story or advertisement you see, there is at least one writer who has agonized over every word. But a designer has also agonized over how those words look. This is a list that shows just how much thought goes into the look of letters.

The two shown in the featured image are Helvetica and Bell Centennial.

Helvetica

This list just wouldn’t be complete without Helvetica — not only is Helvetica everywhere; it also has an entire documentary devoted to it. In that film, design writer Rick Poynor explains that Helvetica was born of the “idealism” and “sense of social responsibility” among designers in the post-World-War-II period. That idealism, combined with a need for “rational typefaces” for things like official signage, helped Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman create Helvetica in 1957. And because of its simple, clean look, the font has become pervasive. In 1989, for example, it became the official font of New York City Subway signage, but it has also been used in countless logos.

Bell Centennial

Bell Centennial was created in the 1970s for phonebooks, and specifically to address problems with the printing of those books. If you look closely at the letters, you’ll notice little notches where the strokes meet each other. Those are “ink traps,” meant to deal with the combination of the thin ink used to print phone books and the cheap paper they’re printed on, MoMA explains. Leaving those notches allows the ink to fill in the spaces and make the letters look full and correct when they are printed.

See many more typefaces at Vox

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Q&A with type designer Juan Carlos Pagan

Have you given much thought to the typefaces or “fonts” that you see all around you throughout the world? Somewhere someone at some time put a lot of thought into designing each letter of that alphabet. What are type designers thinking and how do they work? Check out this Q&A with Juan Carlos Pagan via the NYC Art Director’s Club.

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The dark side of Valentine’s Day and advertising

It’s not always chocolate candy and roses in relationships – and that’s true in this blog post. With Valentine’s Day coming up, Boston.com has written about the curious history of publically shaming one’s former flame by way of the classified ad.