A new report from RabidCampaign has assessed the ways in which people in the UK seek out deals and offers when indulging in a spot of safe shopping online. Results suggest that social media is less powerful as an advertising tool than might be assumed.

Consumers aged between 18 and 34 are definitely the most receptive when it comes to promotional campaigns waged by retailers through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Yet even amongst this younger slice of the populace, it is email that sits at the top of the ladder in terms of desirability as a promotional platform.

People of all ages prefer to get deals and offers sent to them by retailers through their email account, rather than having their social media feeds cluttered by such content. And this could mean that companies that specialise in safe shopping online are going to return their focus to more traditional means of promotion in the future.

People aged between 35 and 44 were found to be the most likely to take advantage of online voucher codes to make savings, while female respondents were found to be more likely to respond to retailer promotions than males.

Another important factor in shaping consumer trends and spending is word of mouth, with people still consulting friends and family members before they make purchases online. And in the age of social media’s increasing ubiquity, retailers are reminded that they still need to have their own e-commerce sites and not rely solely on third party platforms to engage with customers.

The effectiveness of email amongst youngsters may be surprising to some, but then the immediacy and intimacy of this form of communication seems capable of transcending generational differences in the way people use the web.