1. This week Adobe announced the findings of its Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast.   It revealed that Europeans have already experienced a 150% increase in sales since the first week of November, and will see an additional 25% increase in daily sales following the 26 November. Of all the European countries analysed, the UK is predicted to see the greatest growth in shopping via a tablet device – 166% year-on-year growth.

NI audience fact: Our readers will be spending a large proportion of this; for every £2 spent on Christmas presents in the UK £1 is spent by a Sun Reader.  The equivalent figure is 1 in every £6 for The Times/Sunday Times readers.  Source: TGI GB 2012

2. In terms of the Christmas day itself, UK consumers are set to spend £186.4m online this year, 12% more than last year, according to predictions from retail body IMRG. It has forecasted that on Boxing Day, consumers will be spending almost double the amount they spent last year, with online sales set to reach £367.8m. Chances are they will be researching well before then though if we follow the American’s experience of Black Friday; 52% of Americans claimed to research online before Black Friday and 16% said if they could they would shop actually on Thanksgiving. 

NI audience fact: Frequent Times readers are 47% more likely than the average Brit to thoroughly research products online before they purchase and Sunday Times readers are  51% more likely.  There are 8.3 million Sun readers that also agree with this statement. Source: TGI GB 2012

3. A new report from BabyCentre, The Global Media Mum 2012, has found that 72% UK mums own a smartphone, more than the US (65%), Canada (58%) and Australia (68%). The research revealed that tech-savvy British mums are also leading the way when it comes to mobile search and shopping. Among device owners, more UK mums said that they have purchased something (nearly half), or used a shopping app on their smartphone or tablet (a third) than in any other market.  When using mobile as her shopping sidekick, UK mums are also more likely to have scanned a QR code while out shopping or used a barcode scanning app to run price comparisons.

NI audience fact: The Sun in particular loves helping mum with campaigns such as Captain Crunch and Mrs Crunch (results coming soon) so it is no wonder that nearly 2 in 5 Mumsnet users read the Sun.  The Sun actually reaches more mums than the combined audience of Grazia, Heat Take a Break, Closer and BBC Good Food. Source: NRS PADD 2012

4. We are currently seeing more ‘ugly’ fruit in supermarkets following the washout summer of 2012.  Five major UK grocers have chosen to co-operate with the NFU/UK growers to relax the rules on product appearance as a temporary solution to meet as much demand as possible without increasing prices significantly. The Co-op was the latest food retailer to announce its intention to sell ‘outgrade’ fruit and vegetables in October 2012.  The opportunity to support British growers should resonate with UK consumers, as heightened interest in UK-grown produce since the onset of the economic downturn sees around three quarters of consumers agree that buying British supports the economy and local jobs, according to Mintel (Ugly fruit and veg are welcomed on supermarket shelves this autumn 2012.)

NI audience fact: Sun readers are going to be particularly grateful of the attempt to stem the increase in prices with 4.2 million of them saying that their family spends a lot of food and 5.4 million saying they look for the lowest possible prices when they go shopping.  Times readers are likely to focus on a different view and be more interested in supporting the British farmers with 52% saying they pay attention to where food is grown (52% more than the UK average.) Source: TGI GB 2012

5. The first electronic-only bingo club in the country has opened in Coventry whereby players participate in games using tablet computers instead of marking traditional bingo cards.  They can also use the tablets to play fruit machines, order drinks and even order Chinese takeaways from a nearby restaurant.  The aim is to attract different age groups to the game.  Currently 35-44 year olds have the least interest in visiting bingo clubs, but 43% of gamblers in this age group either bet by tablet or would consider doing so in the future.

NI audience fact: Our Sun readers have a strong match with gambling companies with nearly 40% of them having used a bookmaker in the past 12 months over indexing by 57%.   Also 51% of 35-44 year olds read the Sun.  It’s not surprising that we already have our Sun Bingo brand with approximately 500,000 players. Source: TGI GB 2012