Amanda Brief says, “Consumer-generated reviews are now the most influential form of social media. Bill Tancer, our resident data expert and author of Everyone’s a Critic – Winning Customers in a Review-Driven World sat down to discuss how businesses can leverage online reviews to their advantage, especially during the critical holiday season. To get started, embrace these five simple rules to leverage online reviews:  1.)  Showcase your passion When you are interacting with a customer, make sure that your passion for your business shines through to customers. If a customer recognizes... [...]

Briana Mulherin 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. The biggest shopping days of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – just passed us by and they did not disappoint! Cyber Monday was, as expected, the busiest online shopping day... [...]

Emma Yousif says, “Bill Tancer, general manager of global research for Experian Marketing Services, appeared on CNN Live Thanksgiving day, to answer the question, “Is Black Friday dying?” Contrary to popular belief, over the past few years, Thanksgiving has taken the place of Black Friday as the most popular day for shopping. Due to an increasing affinity toward online shopping as well as big box retailers opening their doors after dinner, many consumers are no longer using Thanksgiving Day to scan the internet for Black Friday deals, but are using it to shop. With this change and the... [...]

Amy Gesenhues says, “According to ComScore’s latest e-commerce report, Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day ever. ComScore says desktop online spending reached more than $2 billion on Monday, a 17 percent increase over last year’s Cyber Monday revenue. This year’s Cyber Monday wasn’t the only day to set a new e-commerce record over the holiday weekend. The Saturday following Black Friday was the first ever billion-dollar online shopping day reports comScore. Online desktop spending during the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday reached $6.6 billion this year,... [...]

David Moth says, “I solemnly swear that this is (probably) the last Black Friday/Cyber Monday post we’re going to write this year. We’ve potentially been guilty of overdoing it, but then when the whole ecommerce world goes mad for a sales event it’s hard to avoid getting swept up in the hoopla. So far we’ve covered pre-Black Friday predictions, Black Friday email marketing, Black Friday site crashes and several other Black Friday angles. And to round it all off, here are a load of Black Friday/Cyber Monday stats. And let that be the end of it… UK increases paid search spend You... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “We like agile marketing here at Econsultancy. It’s a sign that an organisation has the right setup, as it can react quickly and take advantage of situations.  It’s also often very clever and / or amusing. Here’s another example from Black Friday. Seeing that rivals’ sites were suffering under unexpected levels of traffic, AO.com saw an opportunity. As these stats show, Argos, John Lewis and Curry’s all experienced higher then expected traffic levels. Compared to Black Friday 2013, the three retailers experienced 100% more traffic than this... [...]

Brandon Olson says, “The holidays provide a much-needed boost for countless businesses. After all, it’s the two months of the year where they typically earn the majority of their revenue. But all too many fail to plan for ways to keep the momentum going after the holidays. If you find yourself in that boat, you’re invited to join us Wednesday, December 3, from 2-3 p.m. ET, for our monthly #AWeberHour Twitter chat. We’ll be discussing ways to continue the momentum from the holidays, and to keep customers coming back in the new year and beyond. As an added bonus, we’ll be giving away three... [...]

Kari Paul says, “Although there was no shortage of in-store mayhem this Black Friday, shoppers are increasingly opting to take advantage of the major discounts online—and on their phones— new reports show. Black Friday online sales broke new records this year, according to new data from IBM, with mobile traffic outpacing PC traffic for the first time ever leading up to Black Friday. SEE ALSO: 20 lazy people who won’t get out of bed for Black Friday Analyzing customer transaction data, IBM found that on Thanksgiving day, browsing on smartphones and tablets accounted for 52.1% of all... [...]

Adriana Lee says, “Amazon’s already sooo over Black Friday. The online retail giant pushes forward with new offers starting Saturday, ahead of Cyber Monday, with new deals launching every 10 minutes. For the first time, it’s also sending mobile-exclusive lightning deals through its app, so users can snag a sweet discount on the go. Amazon says thousands of deals will be ready per day. Among the ranks, we spotted a few gadgets, appliances, media and other tech temptations getting ready for release across multiple categories”. Amazon Gears Up For Cyber Monday ReadWrite  [...]

Susannah Morris says, “The holiday shopping season is upon us! November and December sales for retailers are expected to top $616.9 billion. In the run up to Cyber Monday, let’s take a look at when, where, and how consumers are expected to shop. While there has been some backlash about stores opening on Thanksgiving, shoppers are still expected to spend $2.6 billion in-store, $766 million online, and $192 million on mobile on Thursday alone. Ecommerce provides the best of both worlds for “Black Thursday” because you can start your sales early for the benefit of the post-dinner shoppers,... [...]