Trendspotting: Online Shopping Trends
Posted by Michael, Griffin York & Krause Marketing Strategy
The Monday immediately following retailers largest day, Black Friday, is commonly referred to as Cyber Monday, the unofficial start of the holiday online shopping season. The term Cyber Monday originated in 2005, when 77% of the e-commerce community noticed a significant increase in sales activity on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Over the past couple of years, retailers have been offering special discounts and deals on Cyber Monday to help increase overall sales. Some of this year’s Cyber Monday deals include Banana Republic offering free shipping to consumers who spent over $100 and Express offering a $40 rebate to anyone who spent over $120. A number of retailers including Wal-Mart, Target, Barnes and Nobles and Best Buy have actually dubbed this week Cyber Week and are offering unique online sales all week on their respective Web sites.
This year, holiday weekend online sales were once again strong. According to comScore, online sales from Friday through Monday were up 13% when compared to last year. In addition, this year’s Cyber Monday was the second-heaviest online spending day on record with sales of $846 million, that’s up 15% from the previous year. There are multiple factors helping that when combined are the reasons as to why retailers are seeing positive online results.
First, retailers have been aggressively discounting merchandise this holiday season as consumers are being very price conscious when it comes to making their holiday purchase decisions in today’s struggling economy. There are multiple Web sites that are dedicated to helping shoppers find the best discounts available online, including the Web site www.cybermonday.com. According to a survey performed by management firm ForeSee Results; online customer satisfaction was actually higher on Cyber Monday than it was at any point in November, including the holiday weekend. One reason helping to fuel consumer satisfaction was the level of deals being offered by retailers.
Other factors helping to increase online sales activity over this past holiday weekend are the ways American’s are shifting more of their dollars online. A global online survey preformed by Nielsen found out that 94% of American’s with internet access have purchased a product online. The two main factors driving more consumers to purchase products online, according to Nielsen Online pre-holiday survey, is 76% of internet users agree that online shopping is convenient for them while 76% agree that online shopping saves them time. Consumers do not wait anymore to be exposed to information, they search for it in real time and online shopping provides consumers with 24-7 flexibility and standard brick and mortar stores cannot offer consumers the same promise of convenience.
Nielsen reports that online shopping has grown 40% over the past two years. That is an increase that retailers must pay attention to. In order to survive in today’s dynamic, ever-changing, 24-7 online world you must be able to deliver a top-notch, online experience because if these trends continue, your Web site might be worth more than your store.
Tags: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Online Shopping Trends, Trendspotting
