Grocery Retailers Having Impact on Traditional High Street Providers for Loans, Online

LONDON, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Research from leading independent digital marketing agency Greenlight, reveals that the majority of UK online consumer searches for retail banking-related products in January pertained to loans, with grocery retailers taking two of the top three spots in terms of visibility for loan-related products.

The report, 'Retail Banking Report - Issue 11', profiles online consumer search behaviour in the financial sector. It reveals the number of searches conducted for retail banking products (bank accounts, credit and debit cards, mortgages and loans), the most popular search terms used, and the most visible brands and review sites to those searches. This it bases on analysis of online search-related data sourced from Hydra's One Platform, a leading provider of SaaS tools for digital marketers.

Search terms pertaining to loans and mortgages most queried

Greenlight's report reveals that in January, UK consumers made a total of 2.5 million online searches for retail banking-related products.

Loans accounted for the majority (37%) of searches (934,234) with the keywords 'Loans', 'Payday loans' and 'Student loans' being the top three terms consumers used to conduct their searches.

Mortgages, accounting for 30% of overall retail banking-related queries, followed.  Interestingly, the term 'Mortgage calculator' was the most popular search term across the board.

Bank accounts and credit and debit cards-related queries accounted for a 21% and 12% share of overall search, respectively.

Table 1: Loans - Top 10 keywords

    Keyword                    Number of searches % share

    Loans                           201,000         22%
    Payday loans                    165,000         18%
    Student loans                    49,500         5%
    Loan calculator                  40,500         4%
    Loans for people with bad
    credit                           40,500         4%
    Personal loans                   40,500         4%
    Loan                             22,000         2%
    Payday loan                      22,000         2%
    Student loan                     22,200         2%
    Cheap loans                      18,100         2%

Source: Google AdWords

Leading grocery retailers make up two of the top three most visible sites for loans

Whilst MoneySupermarket, MoneySavingExpert and Halifax were the most visible websites for retail banking related-searches overall in natural search, for loans specifically, the sites that dominated were MoneySupermarket followed by Tesco Bank then Sainsbury's Bank.

Table 2: Top 10 - Most visible websites for loans keywords

                                 Reached
    No. domain                   Volume     Missed Volume % reached

    1   moneysupermarket.com     580,721       353,513       62%
    2   tescobank.com            293,316       640,918       31%
    3   sainsburysbank.co.uk     285,038       649,196       31%
    4   comparethemarket.com     278,582       655,652       30%
    5   moneysavingexpert.com    277,506       656,728       30%
    6   barclays.co.uk           216,187       718,047       23%
    7   quickquid.co.uk          214,113       720,121       23%
    8   paydayloans.org.uk       188,640       745,594       20%
    9   santander.co.uk          169,423       764,811       18%
    10  dcloans.co.uk            168,480       765,754       18%

Source: Greenlight (Powered by Hydra)

In a recently published report, '2012: Trends to Watch in UK Retail Banking', market analysis firm Datamonitor says providers will have to work hard to attract deposits in a low interest rate environment.  With consumer borrowing staying subdued, Datamonitor expects lending to come under further pressure. In addition, the analyst house predicts non-traditional providers will make greater inroads into lending in 2012.

Against this backdrop, players should look to implement strategies that help to maximise their presence online and make them immediately visible to consumers researching or looking for financial services and offers via the internet, as opposed to competitors stealing share of gaze!

About Greenlight:

Greenlight is a leading independent digital marketing agency, the largest of its kind in Europe and the fastest growing. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Santander, New Look, Sky and ghd, Greenlight is a leader in the digital marketing space, and is recognized worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future of search.

Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector, publishing widely read industry reports, original research, speaking at trade events, and delivering a highly respected digital marketing training programme via the Greenlight Academy. Founded in 2001, Greenlight is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. http://www.greenlightdigital.com

SOURCE Greenlight Digital