Billy Florence - Holiday Sales Growth Soars
Online retailers are expecting hyper-growth in holiday sales this year as a record number of people say they plan to shop online. One-in-five online retailers report expecting to experience hyper-growth this year. Hyper-growth is defined as an increase of 75 percent or more over last year.
Growth: An additional third plan to experience ‘strong growth’ from 30-74 percent and one in five are projecting growth between 15-29 percent over last holiday. The growth-focused retailers’ holiday marketing arsenal includes tactics such as: more free shipping, earlier sales and promotions, broader participation in shopping search engines, and testing new communication channels such as blogs and RSS. Nearly half (47.1%) of consumers say they plan to shop online this year, up from 36.0 percent three years ago.
More Free Shipping and Sales: The customer has spoken. Four out of five shoppers will be making their online purchase decision based on free shipping and plan to start their shopping early.
An increasing number of online retailers will offer shipping promotions this year including free shipping with or without conditions and discounted shipping. Two years ago, only 64 percent of online retailers offered free shipping with conditions; this year, 83 percent of retailers will be offering the promotion. Many retailers will also be adding “early shopper” discounts. Companies offering “first time buyer” discount are up. More than one-third of retailers will be offering it this year.
Customer Communications: Most online retailers (97.4%) will be investing in search engine marketing and comparison shopping engines (73.1%). Companies are also using more unconventional online marketing strategies with 41.6 percent of retailers incorporating blogs or RSS feeds and 79.5 percent of retailers using viral marketing. Offline, retailers will invest in traditional media advertising in newspapers (44%), magazines (52%), radio (31.6%), and television (26.3%).
Budgets Up: The National Retail Federation says the average shopper is expected to spend nearly $800 this year, up from $738 last year. Self-gifting is also on the shopping list with shoppers planning to spend an additional $99 on themselves.
Sources: National Retail Federation, Bizrate, Shop.org
© 2006 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.
Growth: An additional third plan to experience ‘strong growth’ from 30-74 percent and one in five are projecting growth between 15-29 percent over last holiday. The growth-focused retailers’ holiday marketing arsenal includes tactics such as: more free shipping, earlier sales and promotions, broader participation in shopping search engines, and testing new communication channels such as blogs and RSS. Nearly half (47.1%) of consumers say they plan to shop online this year, up from 36.0 percent three years ago.
More Free Shipping and Sales: The customer has spoken. Four out of five shoppers will be making their online purchase decision based on free shipping and plan to start their shopping early.
An increasing number of online retailers will offer shipping promotions this year including free shipping with or without conditions and discounted shipping. Two years ago, only 64 percent of online retailers offered free shipping with conditions; this year, 83 percent of retailers will be offering the promotion. Many retailers will also be adding “early shopper” discounts. Companies offering “first time buyer” discount are up. More than one-third of retailers will be offering it this year.
Customer Communications: Most online retailers (97.4%) will be investing in search engine marketing and comparison shopping engines (73.1%). Companies are also using more unconventional online marketing strategies with 41.6 percent of retailers incorporating blogs or RSS feeds and 79.5 percent of retailers using viral marketing. Offline, retailers will invest in traditional media advertising in newspapers (44%), magazines (52%), radio (31.6%), and television (26.3%).
Budgets Up: The National Retail Federation says the average shopper is expected to spend nearly $800 this year, up from $738 last year. Self-gifting is also on the shopping list with shoppers planning to spend an additional $99 on themselves.
Sources: National Retail Federation, Bizrate, Shop.org
© 2006 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.
posted by Billy Florence at
10:48 AM
