GSK develops online store to boost insight and marketing
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GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare division is looking to bolster its understanding of its customers’ online shopping habits and improve the marketing of its products with the launch of an online store.
The healthcare giant hopes that GSK Direct will help cement and improve its market-leading position in the UK healthcare sector.
]It will use the website, which currently sells the GSK brand range, including Aquafresh, NiQuitin and Beechams, to collect transactional information.
Data will be collected about the types of products bought together, what parts of the site customers use to make their purchases and what promotions are most attractive.
GSK will also present this data to its retail partners in order to advise them how to market, display and promote its products better.
GSK ecommerce controller Paul Gurnell, says: “We have a long-term vision for our healthcare: how do we add value to our products and how do we help support our patients?
“This [website] gets us on the journey to that and may also have a halo effect on brand sales too.”
He adds: “This is not about stealing business from our retail partners, this is about us being closer to our customers and understanding more about how they shop.”
Gurnell says the idea was inspired, in part, by Procter & Gamble’s US ecommerce shop which works in a similar way.
GSK Direct is set to evolve in the coming months to include pharmacy products and will also become available through mobile internet.
Gurnell says: “Mobile is going to be hugely important, with developments going on such as the Android platform that open up whole new opportunities for retailers and manufacturers. It is definitely a priority for us.”
The launch of the online shop makes GSK the first UK healthcare company to autonomously manage its own ecommerce site, from management of the digital technology through to fulfilment of orders.
YouGov Insight:
Healthy Living
· Over half of the adult population is either currently affected by or personally concerned about weight problems.
· 14% of men and 19% of women describe themselves as ’very overweight’, but the evidence suggests that many people may be underestimating the extent of their problem, particularly men.
· Men and women aged 40-54 are the likeliest group to see themselves as ’very overweight’. They are also the least likely age to eat healthily especially men.
· 53% of ABC1s take care to eat healthily compared to 40% of C2Des.
· 43% of ABC1s take regular exercise compared to 31% of C2DEs.
· Just one fifth of women in the UK are currently on a diet - double the number of men.
· Only one in ten adults agree that ’it’s more important to enjoy yourself rather than worry too much about healthy living.’
Click here for more information on this YouGov market report
