eBay advises brands to expect the unexpected this winter
Wet and windy weather is likely to prompt some unconventional UK shopping sprees, according to eBay Advertising.
Its research shows that searches for ‘fan’ shot up during some of last year’s big weather events – by 6% during Storm Callum (13th October 2018) and 19% during Storm Deidre (16th December 2018), both compared to two days before. Likewise, searches for ‘mini fridge’ surged 11% and 31% respectively, and searches for ‘ice cream maker’ rose by 8% and 50% in the same timeframe.
“It’s easy to look at cold, windy weather and assume that all shoppers will want raincoats, umbrellas and hot water bottles. But such presumptions can make advertisers blind to the audiences that are in the market for less weather-appropriate items – but equally open to information and inspiration,” says Mike Klinkhammer, Director of Advertising Sales EU at eBay.
“Advertisers should use a combination of behavioural and contextual insights to stay on top of the needs of today’s consumers, and those who do this stand the greatest chance of winning big this season. Those who don’t will likely end up out in the cold.”
According to eBay, relentless rain prompts many shoppers to fantasise about packing their bags and getting out of town. Searches for ‘flight pillow’ took off during Storm Callum, rising 67% compared to just three days before, while searches for ‘wetsuit’ also grew 17%.
And this wasn’t a one-off occurrence – eight weeks later, searches for the same keywords surged by 36% and 51% respectively on 13th December as Storm Deidre’s icy winds began to batter the UK.