Kim Stiglitz says, “The day after Halloween marked the official start of the holiday shopping season and since then, holiday-related emails have been arriving in our inboxes on a daily basis. Why are holiday emails seemingly being sent earlier and earlier each year? Christmas-themed and general winter holiday season emails have higher open rates when sent weeks or even months earlier than immediately before the target holiday, according to a recent article by Marketing Profs.To get you in the holiday swing of things, here are 25 examples of holiday email subject lines that stood out in our... [...]

Katie Oakes says, “Each week, we will provide you with real time insights and trends for the 2014 holiday season: how consumers are shopping, what they are searching for and how marketing campaigns can be optimized to maximize rewards for both consumers and brands. Sign up to receive the weekly #HolidayHotSheet in your inbox and stay tuned to the blog for highlights and additional holiday coverage.Now that Halloween is behind us, the focus on the upcoming holiday season is stronger than ever. Sure, we still have Thanksgiving to get through, but 45 percent of holiday email campaigns already... [...]

Matthew Whitehead says, “Paid search is a key element of marketing campaigns during the festive shopping season.What should advertisers be focusing on to succeed this year?Here are six key tips to inform your search advertising campaigns this festive season:1. Analyse past performance and forecast for the futureReference historical data when planning your campaigns, but don’t simply replicate the same tactics from the previous year. Where were your peaks in 2013 – and how does the changing calendar impact them?In 2014, there will only be 26 days between Black Friday and Christmas itself... [...]

Allison Howen says, “Ninety-one percent of consumers intend to make a purchase through a mobile or tablet app this holiday season according to new data from Artisan Mobile.The data comes from a survey of 500 consumers, which also found 94 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they are purchasing and browsing products on apps more than ever before. The study also revealed that 54 percent of consumers plan to do one-half or more of their holiday shopping (purchases and/or browsing) via a mobile or tablet app. Other noteworthy stats show that 75 percent of consumers browse... [...]

David Rakuc says, “Well, it’s here. Halloween has officially passed and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away.At this point, retailers should be well on their way to nailing down a solid holiday strategy. But here’s one area you may not have considered: the three policies that can make or break your customer’s confidence at checkout.Shipping, delivery, and return policies often play second string to promotional and discount strategies, but they can be just as significant when it comes to influencing actual sales. Here are some actionable tips to apply before the holidays:Return... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “Using a mix of its own data and third party data, mobile ad personalization platformAppLovin is predicting that nearly 30 percent of Cyber Monday transactions this year will come on mobile devices. This is transactions — not traffic.The awkwardly named Cyber-Monday has been the biggest online shopping day of the year in the US since 2010 according to comScore data. In 2013 Cyber Monday sales rang up roughly $2.3 billion according to Adobe.AppLovin points out that in 2010 mobile transactions represented only 2 percent of Cyber Monday buying. However mobile commerce... [...]

Alan Harris says, “As we turn the page on October and say “hello” to November, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. With it comes the 1-2-3 punch of Black Friday (Nov. 28), Small Business Saturday (Nov. 29), and Cyber Monday (Dec. 1). For many of us, this time of year determines whether we’ll be in the red or in the black come 2015, but the key to making sure your business has a successful November is getting ahead of the competition and promoting early.If you haven’t already prepared your holiday marketing calendar, here’s a helpful checklist of tips and to-dos for November.Week... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Happy Halloween, now go shopping. The countdown to Black Friday is at t-minus 27 days and there are only 54 days until Christmas, so if you are marketing to holiday shoppers there’s no time to waste.And Twitter this week released a study touting its ability to bring customers into retail establishments and influence purchase decisions. The study, conducted for Twitter byDB5 Research, is obviously self-serving, but it’s still interesting data, pulled from 2,100 U.S. holiday shoppers aged 13 and above who were interviewed in August.More than half of those surveyed... [...]

Christopher Ratcliff says, “This is a huge increase from the 45% of online users using click and collect last Christmas.Obviously the main benefit of click and collect is the ability to pick up purchases when and where the customer chooses.You don’t have to wait in your house all day for a package, or take a trip down to the sorting office before it closes on a Saturday morning if you’ve missed it.The other benefit is that theoretically click and collect should always be free to the customer. Almost 80% of the online shoppers surveyed said they expect click and collect to be offered for... [...]

Amy Gesenhues says, “Many are predicting strong online retail sales this holiday season. Earlier this month, theNational Retail Federation released a study claiming 56 percent of shoppers plan to buy online – a 51 percent increase over last year, and a record high according to the NRF.PunchTab, a technology provider for CPG and retail brands, is claiming an even more aggressive outlook. Surveying over 1,000 U.S. consumers last month, PunchTab found 90 percent of its survey participants were planning to shop online for the holidays.Grouping survey responses by generation, PunchTab’s... [...]