A report published on Sunday 5th August saw Preston sit at number 60 on a National scale for ‘Digital Influence’, ahead of destinations such as Southport, Canterbury and Durham; Blackburn sat at 140th place on the list of over 1,300 destinations.
Towns and cities across the UK are measured on their digital score on a weekly basis; active and collaborative digital output has been directly linked to an increase in sales.
Places that grow their digital influence can measurably increase their attractiveness to shoppers and visitors and ultimately become a more prosperous economic destination.
Digital influence is a measure of how much people are talking about your town or city online, predominantly through social media. Data from #WDYT, who compile the report, shows that digital influence has a direct link to footfall, with active towns and cities seeing a measurable increase in numbers and sales.
Digital Influence is a measure that a town or city has in the online world; a positive online brand it is vitally important to cities in creating confidence, particularly economically.
Mark Whittle from Preston BID said: “Online presence and offline transactions have a direct link, a huge proportion of physical sales take place because of an active online relationship with customers.
“Delivering timely and relevant information to any audience is vital to engage, inspire and create trust.
“The BID is supporting businesses with increasing their online engagement via its own social media channels and its consumer facing websites.
“Whilst online shopping provides convenience, it lacks the personal interaction that shopping in person delivers.”
It is estimated that by 2020, 80% of retail purchases will still occur offline; close to 50% of those anticipated sales will be affected by a strong digital influence.
