Multichannel Merchant’s inbox has been inundated with surveys related to holiday shopping trends.
So what can we make out of all of these surveys, and how will they affect your last-minute preparation for the 2015 holiday season?
Well, we can start with this scary stat from JDA Software Group: 50% of consumers indicate that they will be unforgiving of retailers who provided less than satisfactory online home delivery experiences. And how about this one from SOASTA: 70% of Americans’ browsing and online shopping behavior would be affected by getting “bad grades” for performance, with Millennials being the most reactive.
Both these doom and gloom stats could land some merchants on the naughty list this holiday season, unless they find a way to get dissatisfied customers to give them another chance.
Half of all holiday shoppers plan to start their shopping before Thanksgiving weekend, a 6% increase over 2014, according to NPD Group’s 2015 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey. And Deloitte says half of shoppers it surveyed say they buy gifts for themselves when shopping for others, up 7 percentage points from 2014. And Adobe’s data shows that 75% on online sales will be spent on 1% of product SKUs. So are merchants’ inventory levels up to speed, and are they promoting the right items?
And of course, here’s what consumers have to say about Thanksgiving: While Ebates says 55% of Americans plan to shop this Thanksgiving Day, it needs to be put into an ecommerce context. And that context shows Thanksgiving could be a huge online shopping day, since the Ebates survey indicates 48% of Americans shopping on Black Friday and 42% on Cyber Monday (and since Ebates’ focus in on ecommerce sales). And FatWallet has a survey that indicates more loath than love for Thanksgiving Day: 42% of its survey respondents said they do not like stores opening on Thanksgiving, while 5% said they like to shop on Thanksgiving.
And speaking of Cyber Monday (which we actually didn’t speak of Cyber Monday), do you need a Cyber Monday Survival Kit? We’re giving some the week of November 9, courtesy of our friends at Olark. What’s inside? Red Vines, sunflower seeds, coffee from Brooklyn Roasting Company, a Cyber Monday Sales Cowbell, and more cool stuff.
Be sure to follow @MCMerchant for your chance to win
Here’s a look at this weeks’ news, commentary and events that shaped the direct-to-customer world… and more…
Marketing
Revionics Inc. has entered into a multi-year agreement with leading Russian ecommerce merchant OZON.ru, providing price management, planning, strategic price simulation and optimization services. … This holiday season find out why there are no excuses for bad conversions on mobile with this infographic by Instart Logic… Jewelry.com selects VoyageOne to expand and sell products in China’s B2C online marketplace… PerformanceParts.com increased online sales and expanded internationally with ChannelAdvisor marketplaces….
Ecommerce
Alibaba says it it ready for Singles Day… But was Alibaba ready for this?: JD.com said it has sent a letter of complaint to a Chinese antitrust regulator and formally requested an investigation into rival Alibaba Group Holding… Just in case you were wondering, OfficeDepot, Inc.’s ElfYourself app is back… Dick’s Sporting Goods has enhanced its app and will reward customers for leading an active lifestyle… Target is the latest retailer to launch a global ecommerce site… Here are 5 tips for launching global ecommerce sites…
Operations
It’s been a busy week or so for the ever-burgeoning same-day delivery arms race. First, Amazon competitor Jet.com announced plans to roll out same-day delivery soon in New York and San Francisco. Then Best Buy partnered with crowdsourced delivery company Deliv to offer same-day in the San Francisco-San Jose, CA area. The following day, Target announced expanded same-day delivery to the Bay Area with Instacart, after a successful pilot in its hometown of Minneapolis, MN in September. Meanwhile across the pond, Amazon started offering free same-day delivery for Prime members in greater London, as well as areas of Hertfordshire and Berkshire. Lastly, homemade goods marketplace Etsy announced same-day and next-day delivery in New York for a pricier $20 fee, with a little help from Postmates. … On the heels of a similar action last week against Amazon, Google is now being sued by a Google Express driver in Massachusetts who claims she was misclassified as contractor. The filing is being teed up as a class action…. eBay expanded global shipping program in the UK. Newegg offered local shipping to Australian shoppers.
… And more
L.L Bean named Stephen Smith as its new CEO, making him the first outsider hired to the position in the company’s 103-year history… FlipKart hired Google’s former head of mobile search advertisements Surojit Chatterjee as head of consumer experience and growth…. ChannelAdvisor promoted Richard Cornetta to Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer… Former Borderfree CEO Michael DeSimone has been hired as ShopKeep’s new COO… Ralph Lauren Corp. reported better-than-expected numbers for the second quarter… Michael Kors Holdings Limited’s second quarter sales were up 6.9%… Harry & David gave 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.’s first-quarter figures a big boost… Kate Spade & Co. saw its third-quarter sales rise 26.1%