Digital marketing spend is growing among European retailers

According to the latest study by the Initiative Digitale Handelskommunikation (IDH), retail marketing managers prefer digital brochures over printed materials as they are considered more efficient and cost-effective. At the same time, the use of social media is playing an increasingly important role.

The use of printed brochures continues to decline, with 30% of respondents saying they are “essentially replaceable”, which is twice as many as last year. As the biggest challenge, 67% of marketing managers mentioned the “restrained consumer sentiment”, while 48% indicated changes in commercial communication and 44% indicated the labor shortage.

According to Germany’s business climate index, economic sentiment continues to deteriorate, especially in the retail and manufacturing sectors. Companies are becoming more and more skeptical about the future, which is also reflected in the decrease in order backlog and capacity utilization. Only 27% of consumer spending flows into the retail sector, adding to the uncertainty.