Internet retailers are being urged to look beyond the written word and embrace the popularity of the emoji to interact with a younger generation. Global courier ParcelHero says e-tailers should embrace the cartoon style imagery within its marketing to engagement younger audiences.

The small image icons are booming in popularity – backed up by the company’s research which found 92 percent of the online population now use emoji’s. So much so, that a ‘thumbs up’ or a happy face inserted has overtake the popularity of internet text abbreviations such as ‘LOL’.

ParcelHero’s head of public relations, David Jinks, explains, “Internet traders, from the smallest eBayer to giants such as Amazon, all need to start using the language of emoji’s. ParcelHero’s new research shows that people of all ages are happily emoting with emoji’s, and are using them to communicate with etailers to give feedback on products and deliveries. After all a smiling face, or a frowning face for that matter, says a thousand words.”