Early results indicate a blockbuster holiday

The results are in from the first big selling events of the holiday season, and it appears that online sales are set to exceed expectations. Industry-wide, measurement firm comScore reported a whopping 32% increase in year-over-year sales on Thanksgiving Day, a 23% jump on Black Friday, and 17% on Cyber Monday. IBM’s Holiday Benchmark reports show even stronger results: Thanksgiving online sales grew by 17.4%, Black Friday sales increased 20.7%, and Cyber Monday revenues jumped 30.3%.

Perhaps even more heartening, data from the MarketLive Performance Index shows that those gains aren’t just confined to the biggest mega-merchants on the Web — far from it. Index merchants achieved gains even greater than the industry at large, with 59% reporting better results for Cyber Monday than the comScore 17% increase, and more than one in three reporting larger gains than the IBM 30% mark.

Holiday data from the MarketLive Index

A deeper dive into the metrics shows that Index merchants scored increases in conversion and engagement while holding the line on cart abandonment. Furthermore, merchants managed to achieve these gains without sacrificing on the altar of deep discounts: overall order size held steady, increasing a full 14% on Thanksgiving Day and averaging 2% for the holiday weekend overall.

The results indicate that merchants who continue to match shoppers with relevant products and meet expectations for superior service stand to finish the year with blockbuster success. To communicate their brand’s unique value proposition and capitalize on early success, merchants should tweak their final campaigns of the year to emphasize:

A variety of products — including gift cards. Merchants should move beyond standard gift-guide categories such as “for him” or “gifts under $50” and offer items tailored to the lifestyle of their target audience. One item that’s of universal appeal: gift cards, which are sought by two-thirds of gift recipients, according to Shop.org. MarketLive merchant Perricone MD’s gift guide features a selection of beauty products aimed at distinct audiences, from a travel kit to a “best of Perricone” set that includes top sellers. Gift cards are prominently featured among the array, well above the fold.

Holiday example from Perricone MD

Make key customer service information accessible everywhere. Merchants should prominently position links to delivery and returns information, product guarantees, physical store location hours and customer service chat links and phone numbers — not only throughout the eCommerce site, but on the mobile site and social outposts, to boot. MarketLive merchant Sport Chalet features a prominent “no sale is ever final” promise on its home page, and gives shoppers further opportunity to connect with customer service in a comprehensive “Holiday Information” banner in its global footer, including store hours, a gift card promotion, and links to holiday guides as well as information on returns and exchanges.

Holiday example from Sport Chalet

Holiday example from Sport Chalet

How has your holiday season been so far? What tactics will you pursue through the rest of the season?

Webinar recap: Using social media to differentiate your brand

Although the busy holiday season is underway, we wanted to take a moment to recap our recent webinar on optimizing social media. Not only did the presentation contain a bevy of information about how to use social media to serve your business goals, but it included tips and ideas relevant to engaging consumers during this peak selling period.

In fact, the webinar demonstrated that driving engagement with the brand is the primary way merchants can make social media a worthwhile investment. While direct sales derived from social media elude many merchants, there are countless creative ways to showcase what makes their brands unique and connect with shoppers. Merchants should:

Communicate everyday value — and not just by posting promo codes. Any merchant can offer a discount; more worthwhile is using social media to demonstrate how the brand delivers value through its unique selection and deep product knowledge. Online merchant Bulbs.com used its Twitter feed not only to push a discount code (which was available site-wide, not just on social media), but also spotlights everyday low pricing on Ecosmart bulbs – demonstrating that the brand is committed to delivering savings on an ongoing basis.

Social media example from Bulbs.com

Deliver customer service excellence. One of the most surprising statistics revealed during the webinar was that nearly half of social media users have relied on “social care,” according to a survey from NM Incite, and fully 30% of consumers prefer to access customer service via social media than the phone. Savvy merchants are catering to this shopping behavior by using their social media outlets to deliver stellar service — starting by proactively addressing shoppers’ questions and concerns, as Land’s End does with its customer service page on Facebook. From a prominent link on its main Facebook timeline, shoppers can access 24/7 customer service chat as well as information on returns, gift cards and more.

Social media example from Land's End

Merchants should additionally consider the customer service needs of mobile shoppers when crafting social content, as a third of mobile users visit social sites on their smartphones and tablets. One key element for shoppers on the go is a store locator, which merchants should feature on social media outposts. Lowe’s not only offers a store locator within the Facebook environment, but it includes hours of operation for local outlets so shoppers can better plan their itineraries.

Social media example from Lowe's

Crowdsource everything.  Merchants can put shoppers’ opinions front and center in myriad ways, giving social followers a stake in the brand and giving it an authentic identity. When it comes to showcasing products, merchants can create a compelling collection of items by grouping fan favorites and going beyond simply displaying ratings to include snippets of review text, comments from social media or emailed feedback. This collection of “Pinners’ Top Picks” from Diapers.com on Pinterest includes personal feedback in the item descriptions, such as a note on a toy saying, “I can’t even count how many times this has flown off the high chair and smashed off our tile floor. Love this toy – it is INDESTRUCTIBLE!”

Social media example from Diapers.com

And beyond displaying existing user-generated content, merchants can use social media to solicit further input, taking the pulse of followers on everything from product design and selection to discount strategies and beyond. Walmart uses Facebook to solicit ideas for which charities should receive corporate largesse during the holiday season. The feature not only empowers social followers, but illustrates how Walmart has benefited communities in the past – making an effective showcase of the brand’s corporate responsibility.
Social media example from Walmart

For more ideas about engaging social shoppers, download the presentation replay or read the related whitepaper. How are you using social media this holiday season to engage shoppers?

 

Cyber Monday last-minute tips: 3 ways to stand out on the biggest shopping day of the year

A week from now, merchants will be in the midst of the holiday shopping fray. Black Friday and the Thanksgiving weekend will be behind them, and dawning will be Cyber Monday — likely to be the largest online shopping day of the year. In 2011, Cyber Monday accounted for $1.25 billion in online sales —  a whopping 50% more than Black Friday, and 20% more than the two days of the Thanksgiving weekend combined, according to measurement firm comScore.

With shopping activity forecast to peak on Cyber Monday again this year, merchants will be vying to demonstrate how their brands uniquely deliver value — which thankfully doesn’t necessarily equate to rock-bottom prices. Participants in the 2012 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey placed value ahead of product price when it came to factors that would influence purchase; in fact, more than a third of participants said they would pay full price for unique items that are perfect for gift recipients and hard-to-find products.

Of course tried-and-true methods such as free shipping offers are important; in fact,  free shipping remains the number one sought-after promotion, according to the MarketLive survey. But with most merchants now jumping on the free shipping bandwagon, it’s essential to find new ways to make brands truly stand out from the crowd. To communicate value and maximize sales for CyberMonday, merchants should showcase the breadth and depth of their unique offerings and do so seamlessly across touchpoints to entice shoppers wherever they connect with the brand. Merchants should tweak CyberMonday plans to:

Expose a variety of products and price points. To entice shoppers to engage with the brand, merchants should display multiple products that appeal to a range of core constituencies. Gift guides, home page displays, email marketing and social media merchandising can all be adapted to showcase variety and uniqueness. Last year, plus-size clothier Ulla Popken used its home page to display “the 25 bestsellers of Christmas” on CyberMonday, putting its most popular items front and center while simultaneously demonstrating to shoppers that a variety of products lay in store within the site.
Holiday example from Ulla Popken

Amp up social exposure both ways. To express the unique value of the brand, merchants should mine social content from existing customers and brand followers. Showcasing top-rated or top-liked items not not only gives shoppers descriptions of products penned by customers like them; it gives the brand a credibility boost by creating an authentic grassroots voice.  Last year Harry & David showcased top-rated items tailored to email subscribers’ geographic area — adding an extra layer of relevance to their messaging. One reviewer noted that selecting the product “takes the stress out of finding that perfect gift” — demonstrating the convenience of buying through the site and enumerating a top reason consumers do holiday shopping online.

Holiday example from Harry and David

Just as they mine social media for merchandising fodder, merchants should also extend their shopping experiences onto social networks, making it easy for brand followers to access featured products and offers. Merchants should consider adding Pinterest pinboards featuring Cyber Monday deals and a Facebook page highlighting top products, with deep links into the eCommerce site if Facebook commerce isn’t enabled. In 2010, Lowe’s featured “sneak peeks” for Black Friday for followers who liked the brand’s Facebook page — giving them exclusive access and generating excitement about the event.

Holiday example from Lowe's



Put the emphasis on gifting service. Merchants can distinguish themselves by proactively addressing shopper concerns when it comes to holiday gift shopping online. In its pre-holiday survey, Shop.org found that top purchase considerations for consumers included items such as guaranteed on-time delivery and free returns. Merchants who consistently message product guarantees, delivery timelines and shipping costs, return policies and the availability of gifting tools such as wish lists, saved address books and gift wrap can go a long way toward earning shoppers’ trust — and thereby winning the sale. In addition, merchants should prominently promote physical and online gift cards, including policies for redemption online and in-store; Shop.org found that they’re what two-thirds of shoppers would most like to receive. L. L. Bean’s promotion last year put the emphasis on service; touting “five ways L. L. Bean makes holiday shopping easier,” the email message highlighted the company’s product guarantee, its policy of free shipping with no minimum, and “easy shopping” using the eCommerce site’s gift guide.

Holiday example from L.L. Bean

How are you creating a unique value proposition for Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday season?

Black Friday last-minute tips:balancing early birds, “buy now” and “buy later”

It’s hard to believe, but the holiday season’s first official red-letter day — Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving — is only a week away. Originally marking the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday now merely represents the point at which seasonal messaging goes into hyperdrive for most merchants.

While forecasts project another blockbuster year for holiday sales growth, 54% of consumers report they’re planning to spend about the same as they did last year, according to the 2012 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey, which means holiday sales gains will be hard-won. No longer the highest revenue earner of the year — that honor goes to Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving — Black Friday is nonetheless important as a harbinger for holiday sales performance. And since this year promises to bring a tough battle for shoppers’ attention and dollars, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Of course, most merchants are already executing long-laid plans for winning holiday sales. But now that the clamor of seasonal promotions is actually underway, merchants should reexamine their campaigns and adapt as necessary to ensure their brand’s offerings are heard amidst the noise. Specifically, to kick off the season successfully, merchants should:

Begin Black Friday on Thanksgiving day — or sooner. Two out of five shoppers had already begun their gift purchasing in late October, according to Shop.org, and merchants have responded with pre-Black Friday deals. Amazon.com kicked off its “Countdown to Black Friday” November 1; Newegg.com is featuring deals all month with its “Black November” promotion. And next week, many major retailers, from Kmart to Kohls, will be open on Thanksgiving Day itself, sometimes beginning in the evening for a full 24 hours of hectic shopping.

At this point, online retailers not already offering pre-Black Friday deals should begin messaging their plans for the big event, stepping up marketing that:

  • Spells out hours and sets expectations for both online and offline shopping. Merchants should let shoppers know in advance customer service staffing hours for Thanksgiving week, including Thanksgiving Day, and merchants with physical store locations should prominently list store hours on the eCommerce site, social media outlets and in email campaigns.
  • Supports seamless online/in-store experiences. With shoppers researching deals on the computer before heading to stores, merchants should focus attention on connector points such as the store locator and any in-store pickup services they offer. This key Information should be available via mobile devices, which serve to bridge touchpoints for shoppers on the hunt for Black Friday bargains.
  • Previews the upcoming deals. Give shoppers who’ve subscribed to email alerts or who follow the brand on social networks a sneak peak at upcoming sale items. And consider letting loyal customers have a first crack at purchasing Black Friday specials before everyone else early next week.

Last year, Target sent an email the Monday before Thanksgiving previewing sale items and showcasing its gift guide, organized by price. The email also prominently messaged the fact that stores would not be open Thanksgiving Day.

2011 Black Friday example from Target

Promote sought-after items to boost commitment now … While shoppers are likely to crowd stores and begin browsing online as soon as doors open on Thanksgiving night, there will be plenty of holdouts, too, especially because this year’s calendar affords them an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey found that while more than a third of shoppers began their gift buying in September, fully 70% don’t anticipate finishing their gift lists until December. And online, shoppers can be tempted to wait and see if deals get better and if free shipping, the most popular online promotion, will be offered to suit their needs. To motivate these noncommittal browsers, merchants should put the spotlight on exclusives and hard-to-obtain items. To encourage purchasing on Black Friday itself, promote items that are unlikely to be available earlier in the season — from hot toys and electronics to exclusive items. Beauty merchant Sephora encouraged Black Friday spending with exclusive items priced competitively and available in limited quantities.

Black Friday example from Sephora

… and use daily deals to keep them coming back for more. With Black Friday kicking off a series of red-letter shopping days, merchants should use it as an opportunity to set expectations for more great deals to come. One way to do so, while also encouraging immediate purchases, is to adopt a “daily deal” strategy, showcasing a single item or discount each day throughout the Thanksgiving weekend and beyond. Such offers are popular with shoppers, 59% of whom used daily deal coupon sites such as Groupon or flash sale sites such as RueLaLa for holiday shopping last year, according to PriceGrabber.

To compete with those sites, and give shoppers plenty of reasons to buy now and keep returning later, merchants should devise a series of discounts and promote them prominently across touchpoints — from the eCommerce site to social media. Last year, the Gap promoted daily deals each day of the Thanksgiving weekend, in addition to its 60% discount. Specials included price cuts on popular items in-store and online and additional percent savings.

2011 Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend example from Gap

2011 Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend example from Gap

How do you plan to maximize the Black Friday opportunity?

Webinar preview: deriving ROI from social media

It’s no wonder that merchants feel compelled to join the social networking fray. As of August 2011, – more than half of the total U.S. population, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Social networking is third only to search and email as the top online activity, Pew found.

But maddeningly, while brands attract followers by the thousands, in most cases sales and revenue have yet to follow: less than 1% of online purchases from either new or returning customers can be directly credited to social networks, according to industry researcher Forrester. Perhaps because attributing sales to social media is so difficult, as of last year many merchants had not set concrete revenue goals for their social programs, Forrester found, with 62% of merchants reporting that “the returns on social marketing strategies are unclear” and 82% saying they still view social media as an experimental frontier.

Data on social media usage from Forrester

But merchants needn’t simply grit their teeth and play along with no hope of recouping costs; nor can they simply sit back and pray for a magic bullet that will instantly enable seamless commerce transactions on every social network. Rather, building an effective social media presence – one that tightly connects community and commerce – requires merchants to carefully study the opportunities, and to match the right social media activities not only with their target audience, but with shoppers’ needs at every stage of the customer lifecycle.

Tomorrow’s webinar, the final installment in our business optimization series, will examine how merchants can make that connection. We’ll take a look at how merchants are using social media to help shoppers:

  • Research products. Forrester estimates that in 2011, fully 36% of all purchases – not just online purchases – were influenced by the Web in some way, with product and brand research leading the list of online shopping behaviors.  Merchants should cater to this behavior on social media outposts not just by posting product links as status updates, but by engaging brand followers with shopping tools that blend the rich product discovery experience of the eCommerce site with social features such as sharing and commenting.
  • Buy products. Driving sales from social media is possible: marketing firm Ryan Partnership found that 36% of consumers have been spurred to try a product from a brand they’ve never used before thanks to social media, and 22% of shoppers say social media has prompted impulse purchases. To tap into this shopping influence, merchants must streamline and customize the buying experience for social media.  While not every merchant should launch a Facebook store, nor can merchants simply link from the Facebook page to the eCommerce home page; rather, merchants must adapt fully to the social medium with a custom experience that makes transitioning from socializing to purchasing a seamless experience.
  • Get customer service help. Whether or not brands intend it, social media posts have become de facto customer service channels. The medium inherently gives power to consumers by allowing them to post on equal footing with brands; their plaudits or complaints are amplified throughout their networks of contacts, and how brands respond is a test of their commitment to service. Nearly half of social media users have relied on “social care,” according to a survey from NM Incite, and 30% of consumers prefer to access customer service via social media than the phone. To ensure a satisfactory experience, merchants must proactively manage expectations and provide key content.
  • Give feedback. Social media affords brands the opportunity to connect with followers in myriad ways beyond front-line customer service. Not only does soliciting feedback give shoppers new ways to interact with the brand, but followers are empowered with a stake in the brand and its success, forging a tighter connection that can boost loyalty and sales.

Register for the webinar now and join us tomorrow, Wednesday, November 14, at 10 a.m. Pacific,  to explore these topics further, accompanied by a bevy of examples as well as tips for measuring social success and analyzing new opportunities.

4 ways to promote in-store layaway online

Since the economic downturn, many merchants have re-instituted layaway programs, whereby shoppers can reserve and set aside items, and pay for them in installments over a set time period. Layaway is especially popular for the holidays: not only can consumers pay for gift purchases over time, but by participating in layaway programs they can stake their claim on sought-after toys and electronics that may be out of stock later in the season.

Merchants not only benefit from the revenues generated by layaway items, but layaway helps them gauge interest in popular items, thereby enabling better inventory control, according to the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, layaway programs can generate additional impulse purchases when participants place their orders, make payments or pick up their items.

For many merchants, layaway programs are managed entirely in physical stores. But because a brand’s online touchpoints are vital information sources even for in-store shoppers, it’s key to support layaway programs extensively with online content. Merchants with layaway programs for the holidays should act now to launch  a comprehensive page with layaway program information. Provide a concise but thorough description of the layaway program, including any fees, the required percentage or amount for a down payment, and the payment schedule. Toys R Us promotes its in-store program with a bold, colorful page touting “layaway … the easy way,” with a no signup fees and the ability to use layaway for any toys, including electronics. The page links to full program details as well as the store locator so shoppers can connect with physical locations where they can put items on layaway.

Layaway page example from Toys R Us

Merchants should link to the information prominently and promote layaway from:

On-site search. Shoppers entering the term “layaway” in the on-site search box should be directed to information about the program, as on the Walmart site, where a notice at the top of the page lets shoppers know they’ve been automatically redirected rather than shown matching products.

Layaway page example from Walmart

Store locator tools. Shoppers using the store locator — whether on the main eCommerce site or via mobile device — should be able to view at a glance which outlets offer layaway, such as on the TJ Maxx site, where locations offering layaway are flagged with a hanger icon.

Layaway example from TJ Maxx

Product pages. Even if shoppers can’t purchase on layaway via their computers or mobile devices, they may still want to know if they have the layaway option in-stores, so display an icon or flag letting them know which items qualify. Text on Kmart product pages designates which items can be bought using “layaway — the easy way to pay, “ and links to a calculator showing the payment schedule for the product in question.Kmart does allow for online layaway management — but the calculator would be just as useful for in-store programs; the information helps budget-conscious shoppers plan their payments. Kmart provides a printable version for shoppers who choose to visit physical stores to reserve layaway items.

Layaway example from Kmart

Social networks. Share layaway information with deal-conscious brand followers on social networking sites. On Facebook, build custom content about the layaway program and encourage browsing and buying with a link to qualifying products, as Walmart does on its page. A link to the layaway information receives top billing on its main Timeline page, and the information page encourages shoppers to “start browsing” with a link to the eCommerce site.

Layaway example from Walmart

Layaway example from Walmart

In addition to promoting in-store layaway for this year’s holiday season, merchants should begin planning for the future — when online integration of layaway is likely to become an expected norm. Like Kmart, sister brand Sears offers a complete layaway management tool that incorporates FAQs, payment calculators, and the ability to shop layaway-qualified items by department, as well as the ability to make payments. Such tools, while representing a significant investment, offer online shoppers the same access to the convenience and selection of a layaway program. Since convenience is a top reason shoppers choose to purchase online during the holidays, according to the 2012 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey, merchants who allocate resources to this tool are likely to earn loyalty and sales.

Layaway example from Sears

Do you offer layaway? If so, how are you supporting it online this holiday season — and how will you do so in the future?

Webinar recap: mobile’s influence on search marketing

Tuesday’s webinar on search engine marketing was full of useful strategic advice for helping merchants maximize their investments, both for optimizing to boost natural search results rankings and for paid search advertising. One key takeaway: both types of search marketing have been revolutionized by the advent of mobile.

When it comes to natural SEO, search engines are increasingly allocating real estate on the first page of results to local listings tied to mapping services — a shift that caters to mobile shoppers on the go. Fully 94% of smartphone owners have looked for local information, according to Google  – and more than , according to The Pew Internet & American Life Project

And paid search ads are receiving more and more traffic from mobile devices. The share of clicks to search ads grew 132% in the course of 2011 alone, and is estimated to total 25% of all clicks by the end of this year, according to Marin Software.

Paid search forecast from Marin Software

To adapt search marketing strategies to accommodate the growing importance of mobile, merchants should:

Enhance on-site store locator information with a unique page for each outlet, and optimize off-site listings to match. As discussed in a prior post, most local directories offer the opportunity for business owners to “claim” their pages and add information such as store hours and the types of products and services offered. In addition to local listings tied to search engines, merchants should be sure to optimize their information on other business directory sites, such as CitySearch, Yellow Pages, and SuperPages, as well as review sites like Yelp!.

A search for outdoor retailer REI produces a series of local results in the second position in organic search results. The Google Plus Local page includes store-specific information, such as specialty services offered, and links directly to a page on the main REI site specific to that location, which lists still more localized information, such as a schedule of in-store events and classes.

Local search example for REI

Physical store location page from REI

Target mobile phone search ads by region. Mobile paid search remains cost-effective, with costs per click lower than on desktop browsers: in 2011, the average cost per click for desktop search was $0.83, while on smartphones it was $0.53 and on tablets it was $0.63, according to Marin Software. Merchants should capitalize on this cost-effectiveness by crafting separate mobile campaigns, which perform 11.5% better than mobile-desktop hybrid campaigns, according to Google. Not only should the ad copy be mobile-specific; it should also take into account local physical locations and offer. Merchants should also consider enhancements such as click-to-call and integrated location mapping to further enable shoppers on the go. Such enhancements have the added benefit of giving merchants more real estate on small mobile phone screens, increasing the likelihood for top bidders to dominate the page.

Banana Republic tailors its mobile search ad to include click-to-call functionality as well as a link for directions. Additionally, whereas the desktop ad puts the emphasis on a free shipping offer likely to appeal only to online shoppers, the mobile ad mentions a general $35 discount available in stores as well as online.

Banana Republic paid search examples

Devise mobile-friendly landing pages. Paid and natural search links alike should point shoppers to pages that fit the format of the intended device. Not only do optimized landing pages serve users better, leading to more engagement and conversions, but Google also factors landing page usability into its algorithm for serving mobile ads, favoring those listings that link to mobile-optimized content.  Merchants should:

  • Tailor technology. Eliminate elements that use incompatible technology, such as Flash, or that may not render well on touchscreens, such as Javascript flyouts or popups.
  • Streamline content. On small screens, the connection between the link text and the landing page should be more clear than ever, and the call to action should be prominent.

1-800-Flowers calls out its gift finder as a sitelink in its mobile search ad, which highlights that the brand has a mobile-friendly site. Shoppers who click the “Find a Gift” link can use a streamlined form to specify the delivery region , occasion and date  – thereby fulfilling the ad’s promise of mobile ease-of-use – or browse gift products with the ability to sort by a number of criteria. The label “find a gift fast” underscores the speed and simplicity of the process.

Mobile search ad from 1800Flowers

Mobile landing page from 1800Flowers

The webinar covered many more aspects of search marketing, from social media’s impact on SEO to retargeting campaigns — so download the replay or the related whitepaper today. And tell us: what are your top search marketing priorities?

 

 

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