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Video Playing a Featured Role in Holiday Sales
posted by Linc Wonham @ 4:00 PM
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Online video solutions provider Invodo has released some new data about the use of video on retail sites during the first holiday shopping spree of the season. Invodo customers such as Verizon, Office Depot, Crocs, L’Occitane and others showed a significant rise in the number of consumer views during the Thanksgiving weekend, and some of the key points of data are below:
• Overall, there was a 337-percent increase in Black Friday video views over last year
• On Cyber Monday, there was an 897-percent increase in video views over last year
• Video views on Cyber Monday in 2011 were 2.5 times the number of video views on Black Friday 2011. It is the preferred online shopping day, and video seems to be a preferred form of gathering product information for online shoppers
• On Black Friday, Facebook accounted for 50 percent of the sharing of videos among users, with email at 36 percent and Twitter at 14 percent
• On Cyber Monday, Facebook and Email were even at 43 percent each. Twitter was at 14 percent
• For both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers’ overall rating of the videos they viewed was 4.2 out of 5 stars
A common thread among consumers’ comments on the videos they viewed was that the ability to see a product demonstrated was enhanced through video, enabling comparisons to people in size, in terms of seeing how the material in apparel moves, and seeing the features demonstrated. This led to clear enthusiasm in the comments, which explains why video can be a strong driver of conversion for ecommerce retailers.
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Online research firm comScore has reported that U.S. retail ecommerce spending for the first 25 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season has reached $12.7 billion so far, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.
Black Friday saw $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2010. Thanksgiving Day, while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 18-percent increase to $479 million.
“Despite some analysts’ predictions that the flurry of brick-and-mortar retailers opening their doors early for Black Friday would pull dollars from online retail, we still saw a banner day for ecommerce with more than $800 million in spending,” says comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it’s clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels. We now turn our attention to Cyber Monday, a day that Shop.org says will see 8-in-10 retailers running special online promotions. Last year, Cyber Monday was the heaviest day of online spending ever, with sales exceeding $1 billion, and we fully expect to see another record set this year.”
Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 35 percent versus year ago. Each of the top five retail sites achieved double-digit gains in visitors vs. last year, led by Amazon. Walmart ranked second, followed by Best Buy, Target and Apple.
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Social Geo-location Strategies for Black Friday
posted by AllisonH @ 12:00 PM
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Big names in the retail industry are jumping on the geolocation bandwagon, especially for the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
For example, Sports Authority is offering $25 cash cards for customers that check-in with Foursquare and spend $100 or more, JC Penney will donate $25 (up to $100,000) to the Salvation Army for every Foursquare check-in, while American Eagle is unlocking a 15 percent off coupon to every customer that checks-in on Foursquare. However, these promotions don’t have to be limited to big name corporations, small businesses can jump on the geolocation bandwagon too.
Here are three tips for merchants that want to create social geolocation promotions for the busiest shopping weekend of the year:
Foursquare Specials - Foursquare provides merchants with the ability to create many different types of offers that are available for customers upon check-in – which can be very valuable during the busiest shopping weekend of the year. For instance, merchants can create a discount with purchase offer, like $10 off of a $50 purchase, or free gift with purchase specials. So if your business isn’t already on Foursquare, use this as an incentive to create a merchant page today.
Facebook Contests – It is time to think outside of the box. Organize a contest that gives away a free gift through a random drawing of the customers that check-into your store on Facebook Places over the weekend. Also, to ensure your winning customer comes back and shops more, make the free gift a $50 gift card to your store.
Reward the Early Birds - Although your store may not be opening at midnight like many other retailers on Black Friday, merchants can still reward the early birds. Promote a free gift or special discount for the first twenty customers that check-in either on Facebook or Foursquare on Friday morning.
For more holiday-related social media tips, check out these tips from Website Magazine.
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