Ecommerce Grabs More Holiday Shopping Dollars According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, total 2017 holiday ecommerce, or online, sales increased 18.1% during the November 1–December 24 period, while Adobe Digital Insights reported a 14.7% increase during November and December. First Data research revealed ecommerce’s share of total 2017 holiday sales (October 28, 2017–January 1, 2018) was 29%, a 3-percentage point increase from 2016’s 26%. Despite the robust increase for ecommerce, traffic to the top shopping sites decreased by an average of 2%; however, according to NetElixir research, average order value increased 19.4%.

Ecommerce Sales Soar During Thanksgiving Weekend According to Adobe Digital Insights, $19.62 billion was spent during the 2017 5-day Thanksgiving Weekend, a 15.2% increase from the same 2016 period. An analysis of Adobe and Consumer Growth Partners’ data indicates 20.2% of total retail sales during the 5- day Thanksgiving Weekend was attributable to the online channel, increasing from 18.4% for the 2016 Thanksgiving Weekend. First Data also reported online sales of consumer electronics increased 21% Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, the best performance for any category, while specialty retailers’ sales increased 17.4% and home improvement, 16.9%.

Mobile Makes Holiday Shopping Even More Convenient Mobify stated in its 2017 Q4 Mobile Commerce Insights Report a 22.0% increase in Q4 2017 revenues in the mobile channel compared to Q4 2016. By comparison, desktop revenue decreased 2.1% and tablet increased 4.7%. Adobe revealed consumers spent $50.01 billion from November 1 through Cyber Monday 2017, and 32.6% of the total, or $16.3 billion, was via a mobile device; smartphone, 22.4% and $11.2 billion; and tablet, 10.2% and $5.1 billion Mobile devices were responsible for $1.9 billion in Black Friday sales, a 16.9% YOY increase, and an even larger $2.0 billion, a 31.0% YOY increase, Cyber Monday.

Influencing Shoppers Via Social Media TrendSource reported 19% of consumers surveyed said social media was “very influential” or “extremely influential” on their 2017 holiday purchases, compared to recommendations from family and friends, 54%, and online reviews, 34%. The 2018 Epsilon Shopper’s Voice survey forecasts social media’s influence will increase to 22% for the 2018 holiday shopping season. Of those consumers surveyed, 31% said they shopped on their mobile devices while checking their social media accounts. A Murphy Research study revealed Snapchat customers bought 20% more gifts during the 2017 holiday season than the average non-Snapchat users. Victoria’s Secret and Target had the largest increases in foot traffic among Snapchat users.

Amazon Takes No Prisoners Of the many statistics about Amazon’s 2017 holiday shopping season performance, none may be more impressive than its 42% share of all US online retail sales for the period after Cyber Monday through Christmas. Other impressive comparisons are Amazon’s 29% share of online retail sales from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday to #2 Best Buy, a 7.6% share; #3 Target, a 4.4% share; Wal-Mart, a 3.8% share; and Macy’s, a 2.8% share. When TrendSource asked consumers if they used Amazon Prime for their 2017 holiday shopping, the highest percentage, or 74%, were among those who spent the most, $751–$1,000 and $1,001 or more.

Gifts for Retailers in Every Data Point According to Movable Ink’s 2018 Digital Consumer Trend Report, from November 21 to December 25, 2017, the average consumer opened 3 emails from a brand, viewed a brand’s Website 34.6 times and clicked .9 times within a brand’s email. Surprisingly, smartphones’ share of total ecommerce site traffic on Christmas Day was greater than Thanksgiving Day, or 68% and 62%, respectively, and smartphones’ share of total online transactions was also greater, or 50% and 46%, respectively. Traffic on devices with Apple’s iOS were more than double Android on Black Friday, 69% and 31%, and Cyber Monday, 74% and 26%, respectively.

Advertising Strategies It’s clear your prospects and clients require an ecommerce component to their brick-and-mortar operations. Guide them in the creation of a mobile app, online-promoted merchandise at a discounted price when purchased in the store, etc. Although most (if any) local retailers can’t compete with Amazon during the holidays, it could be advantageous to offer some of its perks for a limited time, such as free delivery the week or weekend before Christmas. According to Borrell Associates’ research, local retailers who are pitched digital add-on packages from local media are more likely to buy them, so help your clients develop creative ideas for ads on your station’s Website to connect with consumers.

New Media Strategies As part of their preparation for the 2018 holiday shopping season, local retailers must allocate time to develop and implement a proactive online review strategy since online reviews influenced one-third of 2017 holiday shoppers’ purchases. Retailers can use their social media pages and email campaigns to help the less-fortunate during the holidays: organize a group of employees and customers to sing carols at an assisted living facility, gather food items to donate to food pantries, etc. Create short videos with employees as on- camera hosts not just to present and show new products for the holidays, but also to provide helpful explanation about how to use them throughout the year.