Activities of Mobile Holiday Shoppers

Mobile is a hot topic this holiday season – and it’s not about how many mobile devices will be on gift lists this year.  We’ve posted several articles about how important mobile shopping will be and when these shoppers will be researching and making purchases this holiday season.  Today, we’ll look at the specific actions mobile shoppers will be engaging in this year.

• Over 40% of online adults will use a smart phone to check for specials and sales

• 41% will look for competitive pricing on Amazon – an increase of 17% from 2011.
35% will check online retailers other than Amazon and 30% will comparison shop on
shopping engines

• 37% will browse an online store or look up store information.  The number of consumers looking up store information is set to increase by nearly 25% from last year

• One-third will check for product ratings and reviews

• 30% will check a retailer’s mobile site where they intend to buy

• 28% will check available inventory before visiting the store

• 22% will reserve products for in-store pick-up

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile consumers are very connected to their devices and will be using many different smart phone functions during the holidays this year.
The common denominator looks to be savings.
To ensure your mobile site is as valuable as possible to shoppers, make sure you promote any offers you plan on having.  If the products you are selling are also available on Amazon or other mass online retailers/shopping engines – compare your prices with theirs to check competitiveness.  Be sure to include any shipping charges in your comparison.  If you offer free set-up or removal, that is a value that you should include in your mention.  Also promote an easy return/exchange program.  For more information on how to make your mobile strategy as competitive as possible this holiday season, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; MarketLive

Mobile Shoppers This Holiday Season

Mobile technology has given businesses a great many tools to create traffic and increase sales.  It’s also given rise to “showrooming”.  “Showrooming” is the practice of shopping in a store, but making the purchase online – from either that retailer or a competitor.  Recently, we had a post showing just how prevalent “showrooming” was going to be this holiday season and some ways you can combat it.  Another study is out that looks at “showrooming” and when mobile shoppers plan to shop.

• 50% of mobile consumers said they would shop on Thanksgiving Day if they received discounts

• Over half plan to shop via mobile device on Black Friday – this is an increase of 20% over last year

• More than one-third were likely to shop on Cyber Monday

• 45% of Cyber Monday shoppers plan to shop then because of free
shipping offers

• Four in 10 Cyber Monday shoppers think they will get the best online deals available on that day

• Nearly 40% of mobile consumers who plan to shop on Cyber Monday are doing so to avoid crowds

What Does This Mean To You?

The holidays might seem like a sprint for consumers, but for businesses it can be more of a marathon.  Traditional shoppers have always gravitated towards benchmark days for shopping such as Black Friday.  Mobile technology has given consumers more power and has made it more convenient to shop for the holidays.  Mobile also gives you the ability to segment sales and target consumers.  Even if you don’t offer an ecommerce or mcommerce solution – you can benefit from mobile.
Digital Coupons – Since so many consumers are mobile first with email,
you can develop an mobile coupon strategy that will drive shoppers into
your location
Permission Based SMS/Text Campaigns – Texting is no longer for just kids and teens.  Texting is actually the biggest non-voice mobile activity that moms engage in.  Sending relevant offers via text is another tool that can create location traffic.
The ability to target offers is one of the biggest benefits mobile can offer your business.  You can create offers and deliver them to specific individuals based on demographic information, prior buying trends and geo-location.  Geo-location is something to really pay attention to.  Since holiday shoppers are so pressed for time, you can promote your offers to people who are in your general area and get them into your stores.  For more information on how mobile can bring you business this holiday season, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group  representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; Accenture

Tablet Shopping This Holiday Season

In yesterday’s post, we showed research on how many smart phone owners will shop over the holidays using their devices.  Today, we’ll look at the other mobile device, tablets.  While there are many more smart phones deployed across the country, consumers who use tablets are more likely to use those devices during shopping activities this holiday season.

• Nationwide, 20% of adults have a tablet in their household or plan to buy one in the next year.

• Over 60% of tablet owners plan to research and purchase holiday gifts, decor and food items

• 44% of tablet owners will research gifts or compare products

• Nearly 30% will look up a retailer’s location or shopping hours

• One in five will redeem coupons

• 30% plan to complete a holiday purchase on their device, that’s twice the percentage of smart phone owners

What Does This Mean To You?

For many consumers, their tablets are virtual catalogs.  This year, the amount of tablet owners is expected to increase greatly.  There are more devices available and a variety of price points for shoppers to make purchases at.  The other positive thing about tablet shoppers is that they are more likely to make purchases.  Look for opportunities to promote your goods and services through tablets and make sure you take advantage of the increase screen size and functionality that tablets offer.  For more information on creating awareness and generating sales with tablets, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; National Retail Federation; The 2012 Scarborough Multi-Market Report, Release 1

Smart Phone Shopping This Holiday Season

Last year, roughly 20% of smart phone owners used their device their holiday shopping.  This year, the number of consumers planning to use their smart phones to help make holiday purchases is much greater.  A new report is out that gives insight into how many consumers will be using their smart phones and the activities they will engage in.

• Across the country, nearly 40%
of adults have a smart phone in
their household

• This holiday season, more than half of smart phone owners plan to research and purchase holiday gifts, decor and food items

• One-third of smart phone owners will compare prices and research holiday gifts via their device

• One in four smart phone owners will look up store hours and business locations

• Nearly 20% will use an app to research or purchase items

• 15% plan to complete a holiday purchase on their device

What Does This Mean To You?

Smart phones are one of shoppers most powerful tools. They are utilizing their devices in nearly every phase of the buying cycle.  The key to having a successful mobile strategy hinges on convenience.
You need to make it as easy as possible for customers to find your location and contact you.  In-store, using things like QR codes can aid in keeping “showrooming” to a minimum. Mobile coupons and text alerts are two other tools that engage mobile shoppers. Tomorrow, we’ll look at tablets and holiday shopping. For more information on how to make mobile a great source of holiday revenue, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; National Retail Federation

Online Sales To Drive Retail Holiday Growth

This week, many stores will be going into full holiday mode.  But recently, we’ve posted information showing that upwards of 40% of consumers have already started making holiday purchases.  It’s important to connect with these shoppers as early as possible because consumer sentiment is not as strong as in prior years.  One of the latest pieces of research to come out is how strong online shopping looks to be this holiday season.

• Holiday retail sales are projected to increase by 4% according to the National Retail Federation.  That’s a total of over $585 billion

• Actual holiday sales grew last year by 5.6%

• Online holiday sales are expected to reach $96 billion – 16% of total holiday sales will come from ecommerce

• Year over year, online shopping is projected to increase by 15% over last year

What Does This Mean To You?

More and more consumers will be shopping online.  Even more will be researching products and comparing prices. Online shopping offers consumers a convenient way to get through the holidays.  It puts them in control of the buying experience and they don’t have to deal with crowded stores. To get the most out of your e-holiday efforts, make sure your checkout process is quick and easy. Also compare your shipping costs against your competitors – because that’s what consumers are doing. Even if you don’t offer online shopping, you can benefit from digital solutions.  Product descriptions are seen as a big benefit and a tool for shoppers.  You can offer online coupons to bring shoppers into your location. For more information on how you can leverage digital to increase your holiday results, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: National Retail Federation; Shop.org

Mobile Increases Influence This Holiday Season

Last holiday season was a breakout period for mobile and this year mobile looks to have an even bigger impact.   More than half of all cell phone owners have a smart phone and tablet sales continue to climb.  Combine that with all of the apps and mobile enabled shopping tools, and it’s bound to be a banner mobile-ly engaged holiday season.

• It’s estimated that 5% of all in-store sales will
be influenced by mobile – that’s $36 billion
in shopping

• Shoppers who come to stores with a smart phone are 14% more likely to
make an in-store purchase than those without a
smart phone

• Total holiday sales are only expected to have a modest growth 3.5% to 4%.  Out of store sales are forecast to jump 15 % to 17%

• 75% of out of store sales are expected to come from online and mobile shopping

 What Does This Mean To You?

As important as mobile was last year, it’s even more important this year.  Last year, it was just important to have a mobile site.  That was the shallow end of the pool.  Mobile shoppers today want to take full advantage of their devices and your business needs to be ready.  Shoppers armed with mobile devices will be well informed of what your offers are and the offers your competitors have out in the market. You need to make sure your sales staff are as up to speed as your customers are.  For more information on how to take full advantage of all the functions mobile has to offer, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; Deloitte

Consumer Sentiment And The Holidays

It’s not even Halloween and we’ve already gotten some research on Holiday shopping trends. It certainly looks like digital and mobile will have a bigger impact and yesterday’s post pointed to shoppers hitting the stores earlier than normal.  Some other research that has been released has to do with how consumers are feeling about the economy and how it might influence what and when people shop.

• Over 7 in 10 consumers think that the economy is in bad or terrible shape

• One in four think that the economy
is “okay”

• Less than 5% believe that it is in good or fantastic shape

• Adults age 55+ have the dimmest view of economic conditions – Almost 80% say it’s bad or terrible

• Nearly 40% of adults under 35 see the economy as okay, good or fantastic

• Roughly 25% of consumers think it will be difficult to purchase things over the next couple of months

• 40% think they will be able to get most of what they need, but not all

• Just over a third are not worried about their ability to make purchases for the holidays

 What Does This Mean To You?

The early bird gets worm.  Do what you can to motivate and monetize your loyal shoppers.  Since they are already spending with you – reach out to them about how convenient holiday shopping is with you.  Also consider your offers.  Nearly two-thirds of consumers think it will be difficult to get everything they need. Make your store a shopping destination for your loyal customers.  Last year, free shipping was a major determiner for consumers.  Stores that offered it saw bigger results than those who did not.  If you can’t offer free shipping, look into discounted shipping with increased spending. All of your marketing efforts should reflect similar messaging.  Do not forget about social media as well – this is a great place to post testimonials.  Let your shoppers be your voice and promote the convenience you offer, the service you provide and the savings other customers can enjoy.  For more information on getting the most out of the holidays, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: RetailMeNot.com

Starting The Holidays Early

Consumers have very different ways they go about shopping for the holidays.  Some consumers wait until Thanksgiving to start their holiday shopping and others of us hit stores at the last possible minute.  New research is showing that large percentages of shoppers are getting an early start to their holiday shopping.

• Nearly 40% of consumers start their holiday shopping before Halloween

• Women (46%) are much more likely than men (31%) to start shopping before the end of October

• Nearly one in four will start in
early November

• Just 12% wait to start until the Thanksgiving weekend

• Nearly one in three consumers plan to be finished with their holiday shopping by Cyber Monday  (the Monday After Thanksgiving)

• Nearly 60% of Women and half of men say they are not finished shopping until after Cyber Monday

 What Does This Mean To You?

You cannot wait to put your holiday actions into place.  With so many consumers shopping early, everyday you wait could cost you sales. In fact, waiting until the traditional start of the holiday shopping period, Thanksgiving, could eliminate up to a third of your possible sales opportunities.
The calendar could also be an enemy – Christmas falls early in the week and Hanukkah falls early in December this year (December 8-16).  If you haven’t already gotten plans together, do so now.
Another reason to get start your holiday activities early is the economic outlook.  In tomorrow’s post, we’ll look at how consumers are feeling about the state of the economy and how it could affect their shopping behavior.  For more information on how to create bigger holiday results this year, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Manager
407.420.5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com
www.orlandosentinel.com/mediakit

Source: RetailMeNot.com

The Last Word On The 2011 Holiday Season

By now, most of people have put away all the decorations, taken down the lights and have at least thought about hitting the gym to work off all the “celebrating” that was done during the holidays.  In October and early November, there were many studies predicting how retail sales totals would rise and how much of a factor online and mobile would be.  Now the totals have all come in and here are some of highlights from the holiday shopping season.

• The National Retail Federation predicted holiday sales to rise 3.8%.  They actually finished higher than that, total holiday sales grew 4.1% to over $470 billion
• Clothing stores/clothing accessory stores and home furnishing stores had a positive holiday season, while electronics stores actually saw a year-over-year decrease
• Total online shopping jumped 15% over last holiday season and totaled over $37 billion
• The biggest online shopping period of the year occurred the week ending December 18^th – online sales for that week totaled over  $6.2 billion

 

What Does This Mean To You?

The holidays may be over but your opportunity to capitalize on them is not.  Did you collect email, text or other contact information on shoppers during the holidays?  Re-contacting customers with a special offer or event to draw them back into your stores can help boost awareness and loyalty.  Maybe utilize that information to begin promoting any Valentine’s Day events or President’s Day sales.  Also examine your social media efforts.  If you engaged in a “follow” or “like” campaign, what are you doing with those points of contact? What content are you delivering to them?  This is the perfect opportunity to extend holiday sales and generate loyal customers.  For more information on creating top of mind awareness about your business, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Supervisor
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: The National Retail Federation; Comscore; Forbes

Social Media Influencing Holiday Shopping

Social media continues to change the way we shop, buy and research things.  Now it looks like it has altered the way we find out what holiday gifts to buy.
Recent research tells us that:

• Recommendations of social media users are twice as likely to lead to holiday purchases
• Two-thirds of social media users made a Black Friday or Cyber-Monday purchase as a direct result of social media interactions with friends or family
• 86% of social media users made or received a holiday gift recommendation

What Does This Mean To You?

How is your business using social media?  Does your site allow for social sharing?  As consumers find new ways to use social media, you need to respond, adapt and engage to have success through these networks.   Consumers want more and the businesses that provide it to them will see greater results.  For more information on how you can achieve social media success, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
Advertising Research Supervisor
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Mr. Youth