• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 11, 2015

According to the most recent Sprout Social Index, most retailers are turning their backs on a highly captive audience, as people today are failing to receive a prompt response from retail brands on social media 83% of the time, while the lucky few who do hear back have to wait an average of 12 hours.

The problem for the retail industry is twofold, says the report, especially since research shows that people are 7 times more likely to respond to your promotions after you interact with them in some meaningful way.

• This holiday season, the average retailer can expect more than 1,500 inbound social messages, a nearly 20% jump from the number of messages brands in this industry received last year at this time.
• Rather than focusing on people’s concerns, retail brands send out 3 times as many promotional messages, (deals, coupons and product merchandising,) as they do helpful responses.

Scott Brandt, CMO of Sprout Social, says “… social media is… a critical communication channel for brands to engage in conversation with their customers during the holidays… The study reveals that more often than not, brands are silent when their customers reach out… an opportunity to positively influence awareness, customer loyalty, positive sentiment and seasonal sales through social media engagement… ”

Based on data from the past five quarters, the study anticipates that this holiday season, most people can expect to be ignored as well. The few lucky people who do manage to get a response will be waiting 12 hours this year vs. 11 hours last year.

Even outside of the holidays, the retail industry is seeing, on average, 19% more messages than it did a year ago. Incoming messages aren’t the only thing up. And, the amount of messages the retail industry is sending continues to surge: Since Q1 2015, the number of messages sent is up 45%.

However, the bulk of those messages aren’t in response to the growing number of social inquiries retailers are receiving, says the report. In fact, retailers are now sending about 3 times more promotional messages than replies throughout the year. While about 40% of the messages received by retail brands warrant a response, only 17%, or about 1 in 6, actually gets one.

Social customer care remains of critical importance for brands across industries. However, since the first Sprout Social Index, brands have continued to take a broadcast approach, to what should be a more conversational, social, outlet.

Over the past year alone, there has been a 32% spike in the amount of messages sent from customers to brands, with both Twitter and Facebook increasing at roughly the same rate.

Twitter is the best bet for getting a response, concludes the report. Brands will respond to customer concerns 14% of the time on Twitter, compared to 9% of the time on Facebook. However, brands on Facebook are showing a greater rate of improvement (up 4% from Q3 2014 to Q3 2015), whereas brands on Twitter are falling (down 2% in the same period).

Finally, when brands do respond, it takes longer. The average response time has increased from 11 to 12 hours since the last Index. The top four most responsive industries on social remain unchanged. Utilities, retail, banking/finance and automotive all experienced no change in their responsiveness despite shifts in other industries.

For more information from Sprout, please visit here: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/holiday-social-media-for-retailers/