Jerry Jao says, “It’s been a good holiday shopping season so far for ecommerce retailers: While there was clear fatigue for in-store shopping on Black Friday, shoppers kept their credit cards at the ready for online purchases all through the weekend. ShopperTrak reported a 10.4 percent decrease in in-store sales over the Black Friday weekend, whereas Cyber Monday punched through forecasts to hit $3.07 billion in sales, up 16 percent from last year. But, now, it’s time to think ahead. The Black Friday through Cyber Monday weekend used to be retail’s gold standard when it came to holiday... [...]

Kevin Edwards says, “With the dust settled on another record-breaking trading period, what does the underlying data tell us? This year Affiliate Window’s publishers generated £100m in revenue for 1,600 UK and US retailers across the four day Black Friday weekend bookended by Cyber Monday. That’s a 46% hike in sales revenue for 2015. Here are six underlying trends. 1. Consumers spent more Not only did consumers shun the high street to shop online, but they also dug deeper and splashed more cash. The average basket was a full £7.50 higher at just over £93, making it one of the... [...]

Stephanie Carr says, “As the year draws to a close, here’s some final advertiser inspiration to make those ad budgets work harder. Black Friday spending may have been more than $1bn lower in 2015 compared to 2014, but that meant one thing: plenty more shopping to be done. To save marketers a headache during this busy period, we have created some top tips to help ensure your marketing campaigns are hassle free for the final burst of activity in December. After all, consumers are ready to spend billions over the festive period (especially online!) so make sure you adjust your campaigns... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “For retailers trying to win in the make-or-break holiday shopping season, no digital channel is arguably more important than email. By some estimates, email drove a quarter of all visits that produced a sale this Black Friday, putting it ahead of organic and paid search and direct traffic. The holiday season presents some unique challenges for email marketers, and there are a number of pitfalls that can dent email campaigns. Here are the seven deadly sins email marketers need to avoid during this period. 1. Sending too many emails The last two months of the year are... [...]

Peter Daisyme says, “With the holidays right around the corner, it’s time to get your online shop in tip-top shape to help sell to those impulse Christmas buyers. With online monsters like Amazon taking up a huge majority of the market, you’ll need to get creative with your online selling methods to take advantage of this influx of shoppers that will be heading to the web to make purchases for their friends and family. Not only that, but you’ll need to make sure your online store is prepared for additional orders, especially if you’re running a brick and mortar store and online shop.... [...]

Sandra Guy says, “The future may hold far fewer and radically redesigned stores, analysts say. Online retailers’ holiday sales increased 15%-16% thanks to strong showings on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but in-store sales for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend declined 4.7%-10%, according to analytics reports out Tuesday. Cyber Monday—the Monday after Thanksgiving-set a record as the largest online sales day ever, with $3.07 billion spent by end of the day, or 16% more than the $2.64 billion spent in 2014, according to Adobe Inc.’s Adobe Digital Index. Thanksgiving Day through Cyber... [...]

Joshua Sophy says, “The holiday season often brings the busiest time of the year for small businesses and increasing demands from the owners’ family and friends. By being well prepared, owners and their families increase their chances for a happy holiday season — and a happy and prosperous new year. Staying Ahead of the Competition Let’s face it. Yours isn’t the only business out there that’s hoping to take advantage of the busy holiday season. So it’s important to stay a step ahead of the competition. These five tips will help prepare you and your business for the holidays. 1.... [...]

Matt Lindner says, “The online shopping holiday accounted for more than 8% of overall online sales in November, according to comScore. The good news surrounding the holiday shopping weekend just keeps on coming for online retailers. Shoppers spent a combined $3.118 billion online on the Monday after Thanksgiving, or Cyber Monday as it’s known, up 20.5% from $2.586 billion in sales on Cyber Monday last year, according to comScore Inc. That’s in line withdata released by Adobe Systems Inc. on Tuesday, which reported that online sales reached the $3.07 billion mark, the first time online... [...]

Sujan Patel says, “The latest forecast for this holiday sales season is $965 billion – a number big enough that no savvy business should dare to miss out. Unfortunately, as you’re probably already aware, this rich retail environment results in a lot of white noise when it comes to holiday promotions. With what seems like every other business out there running splashy ads in magazines and on every TV channel, it can be difficult to see where and how you’ll stand out if you don’t have a big budget. Fortunately, there are other options to explore that don’t have to bust your holiday... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Last week, my dental hygienist told me she was taking Monday off “for Cyber Monday.” Not Black Friday, but Cyber Monday. The irony of taking off the day that started strictly as a workplace shopping experience is rich, but her choice turns out to have been an early indicator of a broader trend. Consumers didn’t flock to offline deals on Black Friday, and sales were lackluster this year; meanwhile, Cyber Monday produced another e-commerce sales record. Online sales topped $3 billion on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe. The company says 200 million visits... [...]