Tag Archives: study

News, Retail, Retail & E-commerce

Facing shocking levels of violence at work – yet not paid enough to live on: 57% of UK retail staff say their wages barely cover basic expenses, despite many working more hours than ever

  • Study finds that UK shop workers are faring much worse financially than European counterparts
  • One in ten use food banks and nearly a third rely on friends and family to help with living expenses
  • 43% are clocking up more hours than they ever have – rising to 60% for those in wholesale roles

Following the release of the British Retail Consortium’s Crime Survey 2024 Report, revealing a 50% rise in abuse and violence aimed at shop staff, new data shows that more than half of UK retail workers say their wages barely meet even basic living costs – despite many putting in longer hours than ever to keep up with inflated expenses.

Frontline staff across several industries, including retail and wholesale, were polled in the pan-European study by workforce management experts Quinyx.  Four in ten UK retail employees (43%) said they’re working more hours than they ever have in order to meet increased living costs and support their families. For those in wholesale jobs, this rises to 60%.

Pointing to a significant financial disparity between retail staff in the UK and those in other parts of Europe, UK employees were much more likely to say their wages barely cover living costs (57%) than their counterparts in The Netherlands (31%), the Nordics (33%) and Germany (39%). For wholesale workers, the gap is even greater – 57% of UK staff, compared to 18% in The Netherlands, 22% in the Nordics and 27% in Germany say they can barely afford basic living expenses.

Despite a third (33%) of retail staff receiving a pay rise last year, 10% said they’d had to use food banks, while 29% had to accept financial support from friends and family to cover basic costs.

Toma Pagojute, chief HR officer at Quinyx, says: “The British Retail Consortium’s findings are shocking, and while no amount of pay would make the current situation acceptable, the fact that many retail staff are barely scraping by financially seems like another insult.

“If there’s a positive to take from the BRC report, it’s that it is shedding greater light on retail crime and encouraging action to make frontline workers safer. We hope it also brings opportunities to review employees’ experiences as a whole, considering all factors that can affect their mental and physical health.

“Pay is part of that, particularly as we’re still facing higher interest rates and increased living costs. In addition to any legislation brought in regarding customer behaviour and staff protection, employers should always consider the wellbeing of their workforce and look for ways to help frontliners feel less stressed, overwhelmed and overworked. This might be through flexible scheduling or improved communications – and generally making staff feel like they matter and their contributions are valued.”

Manufacturing, News

3M™ Novec™ 71IPA Engineered Fluid scores highest in independent study of additive manufacturing cleaning

Bracknell, UK, June 16, 2022 – 3M, the science-based technology company, has shared the results of an independent study into the compatibility of 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluids for precision cleaning of additive manufacturing (AM) materials. The study, conducted by Added Scientific in the spring of 2022, found that Novec 71IPA fluid showed the highest compatibility with all ten materials tested, in comparison to Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). There was no structural damage to the materials tested at Novec71IPA’s boiling point and only minor swelling observed.

Said Rudi Van San, Senior Application Engineer, Novec fluid, 3M: “AM — or 3D printing — has many benefits, enabling manufacturers to scale processes and explore innovative ideas. Even the tiniest amount of residue could lead to problems or even product failure. Since AM is expected to be widely used in mission and safety-critical applications, superior surface preparation has to be a priority.”

Added Scientific — an independent, technology-agnostic AM and 3D printing contract research company — conducted extensive testing across AM resins, alloy powders, polymer powders, and polymer filaments. The two 3M Novec fluids (Novec 71IPA and Novec 73DE) were tested at their respective boiling points, using three samples per AM material and submerged for seven days. While 3M commissioned the study, the findings were wholly independent and unbiased. In addition to 3M Novec 71IPA fluid scoring highest across all ten materials tested, 3M™ Novec™ 73DE Engineered Fluid was also found to be compatible with some AM parts constructed from polymeric powders and all metallic powders (including titanium).

Rudi Van San added, “We are delighted by the results of this study, providing consistent data to continue proposing 3M Novec fluids for AM component cleaning. Anecdotally, we already hear from the market that Novec fluid is being used in AM processes, so this study provides those users with the confidence that it is the right choice. We continue to engage with the industry to develop best practices for AM component cleaning, sharing our experience and science-based knowledge.”

3M Novec fluids have been long-established for cleaning in manufacturing, from design and assembly to maintenance. They are widely used in mission and safety-critical applications, such as aerospace and medical devices. Suitable for vapour degreasing, spray cleaning and hand-wipe applications, Novec fluids evaporate quickly without leaving residue, penetrate tight spaces efficiently, and — when used in vapour phase cleaning equipment — consume less power and reduced fluid refill when compared to other processes.

Furthermore, 3M Novec fluids are sustainable, non-flammable solvents with low toxicity, providing a wide margin of safety, a low Global Warming Potential (GWP) and zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP). 3M Novec fluids meet all current environment and safety regulations.

News

New Study: Five years after EU antitrust fine, over half of UK Google Shopping ads still come from Google

Searchmetrics’ analysis suggests Google may have stopped trying to increase competition on Google Shopping in the UK since the country left the EU under Brexit

Five years after the EU commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.65 billion) and ordered it to open up its Google Shopping service in Europe to external competition, a new study suggests around 53% of ads on the platform in the UK, still originate from Google itself – up from around 49% in 2019. The research from Searchmetrics indicates that after Brexit, Google is no longer trying to increase competition on its shopping platform in the UK.

On top of this, the research suggests that most of the external participants on Google Shopping are not in fact the providers of genuine comparison-shopping services which Google’s action was intended to benefit. Many are marketing agencies that have emerged after Google’s fine. They sell ads on the platform’s auction system paying Google a margin and giving the impression of increasing competition.

Google’s Shopping platform displays product ads in search results related to the specific products people are searching for. In its 2017 antitrust action, the EU ruled that Google was giving itself an unfair advantage by promoting its own ads on the platform over those from rival comparison shopping websites which help consumers compare different products and prices to make informed purchasing decisions.

Searchmetrics’ latest study has reviewed over one million Google Shopping ad units across the UK and Germany to analyse the extent to which Google is complying with the EU’s call to introduce greater competition onto the platform.

By comparing the results to its previous studies, Searchmetrics concludes that Google had to some extent initially attempted to increase external participation in the UK. But since Brexit its efforts seem to be declining.

Lillian Haase, CMO of Searchmetrics, explained: “Our data suggests that Google’s share of UK shopping ads was around 68% in 2018. And in line with the EU’s call to increase competition this was brought down to 51% by 2019. However, since Brexit happened, Google’s share of ads in the UK has started to rise again, reaching 53% in 2022 so far. The trend clearly shows that after Brexit, the EU Commission’s demand for more competition no longer applies to UK search results.”

In fact, there are signs that there is even less real competition on Google Shopping. According to the data, of the 47% of Shopping ads in the UK which are not placed directly through Google, only 19% actually come from rival price comparison websites who were the intended beneficiaries of the EU’s action. The rest (28%) are mainly from performance marketing agencies that sell ads on the Shopping platform’s auction system giving Google a margin.

Google’s solution to addressing the lack of competition, has been to open-up participation to Comparison Shopping Services (CSS) who can take part in the online auction by bidding against Google for advertising positions on the shopping platform. These external providers can accept bids for ads from online merchants who want to appear in Google Shopping.

But according to Searchmetrics, while some CSS providers are genuine comparison websites, most are performance marketing agencies who offer comparison shopping services in name only. Many were formed after the Google fine in 2017. And while they may run comparison shopping portals, they only list the products sold by merchants whose bids they manage on the Google Shopping auction system – which means they are otherwise largely irrelevant for genuine comparison shopping. In reality, their only function is for Google to demonstrate that Shopping ads are shown from other publishers than itself.

“Even if at face value it appears Google has opened up Google Shopping ads to external providers, these comparison-shopping portals themselves offer negligible user value,” said Haase.

According to Searchmetrics’ analysis, the top 20 CSS partners in the UK have negligible organic search traffic, supporting the view that their primary function is in fact to sell ads on Google Shopping, and not to help consumers find products.

The research suggests that in Germany 33.6% of Google Shopping ads still originate from Google, down from around 50% in 2019 (and 67% in 2018). So, in Germany Google seems to be continuing to work towards reducing its own participation. However, the same issues exist as in the UK. The external ads come from CSS partners, with 41.5% placed via agencies, and only 24.9% from genuine price comparison websites who also function as CSS partners.

The Searchmetrics’ study, ‘Understanding Google Shopping Ads in 2022’, can be downloaded at:
https://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-hub/studies/google-shopping-study-2022/?utm_source=public-relations&utm_medium=external-media&utm_campaign=2022-05-en-study-google-shopping-2022

Data & Analytics, News

Study finds businesses can realize 315% ROI with KX Insights real-time data analytics platform

London, April 5th, 2022: KX today published findings that reveal deploying KX Insights, its real-time data management and analytics platform, could realize a return on investment (ROI) for companies in the manufacturing sector of 315% over three years and a payback in less than six months.

The findings come from a new Forrester Consulting study which has quantified four significant commercial benefits realized by businesses that have implemented KX Insights, along with several notable improvements to processes and expenditure.

According to the study, a composite organization (see methodology) implementing KX could experience benefits of $5.72M over three years versus costs of $1.38M, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $4.34M and a 315% Return on Investment.

The four quantified commercial benefits from deploying KX include:

  • Significant cost savings for data management and manipulation that can be reinvested in other data projects and innovation.
  • Faster product iteration with customers able to refine development, production, and network fixes up to 85% faster compared to their previous capability.
  • Improved product reliability thanks to more robust testing and deeper statistical analysis and the capability to test in real-time.
  • Reduced costs for unneeded backup components and infrastructure thanks to the greater product reliability and deeper understanding of processes.

Kathy Schneider, Chief Marketing Officer, KX said: “A seismic shift is impacting how businesses gain and retain their competitive edge, and that shift is the huge growth in real-time data and the value locked within it. For companies to succeed in today’s data-intensive environment they need a modern technology platform that can capture, process and analyse real-time and historical data at both speed and scale. We believe this Forrester study demonstrates the significant and quick ROI that KX can deliver to businesses.”

According to the study, and prior to implementing KX Insights, real-time data management and analysis was often being performed via a patchwork of costly, disparate legacy systems. This made rapid, automated decision-making based on real-time business insights difficult and costly. Moreover, companies were missing out on critical findings that could yield significant operational and commercial benefits.

 

KX delivers an integrated data management and analytics platform for real-time decision-making in the cloud, on-premise, and at the edge. It powers a wide variety of use cases where large volumes of streaming data need to be integrated from a diverse set of inputs, analyzed in real-time and enriched with historical context to drive critical, in-the-moment decisions. In the manufacturing and IoT sectors, KX is leveraged for component and systems management as well as overall performance improvement.

Methodology

KX commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying KX Streaming Analytics Platform.

To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed four decision-makers with experience using the KX Streaming Analytics Platform. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization.

The full study can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/3uX14cj.

Learn more at the upcoming KX webinar on April 26th where guest speaker Mike Gualtieri, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Forrester will join us to discuss the importance of why a single integrated real-time data platform is key in the role of delivering speed to business value in a modern data landscape. Register here: https://bit.ly/3LkpZx9

News

Studies Show UK Businesses Planning Major Changes to Working Schedules

The COVID-19 pandemic has established many challenges for the UK economy. In fact, the BBC reported back in June that 600,000 people were made redundant as the economy significantly contracted, with more expected in the coming months.

While most of the impacts of COVID-19 have been negative, there has been unexpected progress made with regard to the shift in work-life balance.

Several recent studies have shown this in action after Dale Office Interiors revealed that 71% of UK businesses were planning to introduce long-term, flexible working hours.

Meanwhile, top staffing agency Hales Jobs found that 33.7% of businesses, when surveyed for the “Life After Lockdown” study, would be willing to allow working from home on a permanent basis.

However, while offices will still be necessary for face-to-face-meetings, inter-team collaboration, social interaction and for those who prefer a more structured working day, statistics are showing that up to 56% of businesses, in an attempt to reduce overheads, are either planning to downsize or scrap the office altogether, as more workers take up the option to work remotely.

Allowing staff to work remotely benefits not only the individual but also the business too. The Dale Office Interior study reports that 62% claimed that the increased flexibility had helped their focus, and 55% reported that their productivity had increased when working away from the office.

Figures are also suggesting that remote working will remain in place even after social distancing rules have been relaxed, with only 24% wishing to return to the office full-time and 35% reporting that they’d prefer a more flexible arrangement, in which working remotely is an option some of the time.