Sandra Guy says, “Consumers will make $600 million in online purchases on Christmas Day, Adobe predicts, an 11% increase over last year. Through Dec. 22, online holiday sales have increased 10.47% year over year to $73 billion, according to the Adobe Digital Index. Online sales have hit the $74 billion mark during the 2015 holiday shopping season, and consumers aren’t done yet shopping retailers’ websites. That’s according to just-released data from Adobe’s Digital Index, which shows online holiday spending Nov. 1-Dec. 22 jumping 10.47% year over year to $74 billion. That number... [...]

Courtney Eckerle says, “Every year, the holidays have a way of sneaking up on us. Just like there will be a mad rush at the mall on December 24, there are probably some marketers out there who are trying to think of some last minute ways to connect with customers during such a congested season. Social media and other content is the best way to get some last minute and creative engagement with your customers. In the spirit of giving, here are three tips that could spread some goodwill between customer and brand. Tip #1. Every interaction is an opportunity … … even if it’s a complaint.... [...]

Jordan Elkind says, “Black Friday weekend is a unique time for retailers: The holidays are approaching, the shoppers are swarming and the prices are slashed. While the shopping extravaganza may come only once a year, the marketing trends we noticed through the weekend are unlikely to vanish as quickly as those 50-percent markdowns. The 2015 holiday weekend saw several interesting new trends in e-commerce and online marketing that are likely to have a strong impact through 2016. Here are the three key lessons we uncovered in this year’s “holidata.” Note: The stats below come from The... [...]

Shelley Kessler says, “Our coverage of seasonal activities and relevant trends for the 2015 holiday season continues. We’re seeing high email volume continue to drive open and click rates lower than those seen in 2014. However, the absolute number of opens and clicks received are higher. The largest percentage of year-over-year increases in volume, opens and clicks occurred on Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) and Tuesday (the day after Cyber Monday). A pattern continues for transactions and revenue as well. While rates have decreased, the total number of transactions and amount... [...]

Jack Simpson says, “All marketers should now be aware that mobile is increasingly overshadowing desktopin many areas, and it seems retail searches during Christmas is one of them.  Retail searches on mobile are expected to increase by at least 500% over the Christmas weekend alone. The prediction comes from Bing Ads, which analysed data from the 33% of online retail users that used its platform in 2014. Mobile dominated retail search last Christmas 65% of all UK retail searches where the user was looking to make a purchase were made from either a smartphone or tablet during Christmas day... [...]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “GIFs are more than wiggly cats and sassy pugs. They give us an easy way to communicate ideas, make emotional connections, and delight customers. Maybe that’s why 23 million GIFs are posted to Tumblr daily. With more and more marketers embracing GIFs, we thought we’d give you a little something to wow your subscribers this holiday season. As AWeber’s gift to you, we’ve created more than a dozen GIFs you can use in your holiday emails. You can use these GIFs to promote a holiday sale, seasonal newsletter or simply wish your subscribers a happy holiday”. Your... [...]

Laura Hampton says, “Christmas has always been a key sales period for retailers. For as long as most of us can remember, stores have tried to capitalize on increased footfall and the generosity of the festive season through the promotion of sales and special offers. Today, online commerce has opened up so many new possibilities for retailers to better understand and reach their audiences and the season seems to be growing longer, not shorter, as online stores prepare for the festive season earlier and earlier. Through website analytics and PPC in particular (pay per click marketing), companies... [...]

Morgan Jacobson says, “Would you believe that 15% of midsize businesses won’t spend any additional marketing money this holiday season? When you consider that many of the efforts made will place them up against some of the biggest names in ecommerce, it’s easy to see why they’d rather just go along with business as usual. To compete with the big guys, you’d have to have a mega budget for promotions. Or, you could try some of these tips and stay in the game. Free Shipping The all-time, number one reason for abandoned carts is the cost of shipping. If you’re offering great deals... [...]

Susannah Morris says, “This holiday season, you’re probably focused on reaching new customers and reeling them in with dazzling specials. Reaching out to holiday shoppers who need your help making good decisions on purchases for others is a great way to boost your bottom line, but what about all those shoppers who went before? What about the buyers you reached out to last holiday season but then never heard from again? You can only bring in so many brand new buyers with each gift-giving season. If those consumers don’t stick around after the season’s end, how can you keep making... [...]

Shelby Dorsey says, “Every year it feels like Christmas decorations go up earlier. Black Friday email sends are starting to arrive before Halloween, peppy toy commercials appear on every channel and our favorite brands’ social media accounts become a testament to the holidays long before it feels like we are ready. Even in the age of the Internet, when most people’s access to content is at an all-time high, the same commercials continue to pop up year-after-year. If all of this is the case, there must be something to it. In today’s post, we’re going to examine three lessons to be... [...]