Katy Keim says, “It feels like we’ve just barely ushered the kids back to school, but the faint sound of “Jingle Bells” is already wafting through the air. Thanksgiving? An afterthought. Some brands are already airing holiday-themed TV spots or putting holiday decorations on display in-store. The holiday season is approaching — and it’ll be here in full force before we know it. At this point, you have two choices: 1) continue to fear the inevitable; or 2) make the necessary preparations to ensure that your brand, across all its customer touch points, is ready (and willing) take... [...]

Shelley Kessler says, “As the holiday season gets underway, it’s quite clear that mobile will play a major role in the consumer experience this year. For example, in our last Holiday Hot Sheet we found that 35 percent of all Website visits came from smartphones or digital tablets during the week ending October 17, 2015. And the number of mobile visits to retail sites is only expected to increase as we get closer to the holiday. Email engagement via mobile is on the rise Based on October 2015 mailings, we saw that 55 percent of email opens occurred on either mobile phones or tablets. This... [...]

Zak Stambor says, “A new Facebook report finds consumers are shopping across more channels and devices than ever. One of the social network’s executives says retailers are taking note. This will likely be the most complicated holiday season yet for marketers. 59% of consumers plan to shop differently than they did a year ago, according toFacebook research released today, including 40% who say they plan to shop more online this year. The research also finds 53% of consumers plan to shop across multiple channels and 37% plan to do most of their holiday shopping before Black Friday. As the... [...]

Zak Stambor says, “With 40% of consumers having already started their holiday shopping, the early rush of promotional messages makes sense, says one expert. While many consumers have yet to put away their Halloween decorations, online retailers are wasting no time focusing shoppers’ attention on their holiday shopping lists. Many retailers among the 100 large North American e-retailers Internet Retailer is analyzing as part of its ongoing coverage of the 2015 holiday season ramped up their holiday-centric email marketing campaigns this week. That isn’t surprising given that roughly 40%... [...]

Arie Shpanya says, “Retailers often go to great lengths to ensure the consumer’s path to purchase on their site is laid with gold bricks and pleasant surprises. Unfortunately, many allocate too many resources to the path and a meager amount to the destination. The destination, in this case, is the product search page, which contains relevant items and their prices. The price of an item can entice a shopper like the Emerald City or turn them away faster than a gang of flying monkeys“. Four reasons to get your pricing strategy in order before Christmas ‘Econsultancy’... [...]

SBT team says, “It’s important you use every outlet available when it comes to holiday marketing and advertising, but Facebook is arguably one of the most important. Social media in general is a great way to advertise no matter what time of the year, and Facebook in particular has made it easy for eCommerce companies to benefit through different Facebook Store options and features. The big question is of course how to actually setup a Facebook Store, but second it’s important to understand how you can optimize your ads for the best return. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy once you chose... [...]

David Bernstein says, “The holidays are coming quickly. Are you ready? Maybe you’ve already started your prep work so you won’t struggle when the orders start rolling in. If not, now’s the time to start decking the halls. Sometimes you need more than a brief overview to get everything organized. That’s why this checklist is everything you need. Ready to get started? 1) Mobile Responsiveness Not set up for mobile shopping? Your customers will go elsewhere. Projections say 30-35% of shoppers will complete their purchases on mobile devices. 2) Site Traffic Not used to an influx of visitors... [...]

Paul Cook says, “It’s Black Friday, and you’re quietly confident. You’ve planned your marketing campaign in meticulous detail. You’re expecting a lot of extra website traffic, but you’ve taken steps to make sure you can deal with it. Your beautifully crafted home page and offer pages are as light as they possibly can be – images are fully optimised, and redundant content has been removed. Your systems have also been thoroughly tested, and they should be able to cope with visitor numbers far in excess of your wildest hopes and expectations. So when someone tells you your website... [...]

John Fetto says, “This holiday is poised to be the first mobile-dominant season for retailers and marketers need to be ready. A growing number of Americans are turning to their smartphones and tablets as their primary device for accessing the Internet. In fact, one-third of all U.S. adults (33.7 percent) say they access the Internet more often through a mobile device than through a computer, up from 24 percent in 2013. Furthermore, Millennials are the first generation to be mobile dominant, with 53 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34 reporting that they use their phone more often than a computer... [...]

Matthew Whitehead says, “It’s nearly ‘that time’ of year again. So what are the key things to consider if you’re still putting the final touches to your digital marketing strategy for the holiday shopping season? The pace of change in digital marketing means there are always new trends and opportunities to consider as retailers think through their plans to maximise sales at the busiest time of the year. So here are five areas to consider this holiday season: 1. Look again at how you approach Facebook ads Facebook knows that retail advertisers come to it to drive business goals, such... [...]