More consumers are shopping online than ever before, and not just for Christmas. According to figures from eMarketer, U.S. shoppers spent $343.43 billion in 2012 alone. Therefore, in this fast growing retail ecosystem it’s more important than ever for retailers, big or small, to stand out from the crowd.
Is a merger between OfficeMax and Office Depot just a few days away? Although the office supply giants are keeping a tight lip, there have been several published reports within print and online media pointing all signs to yes.
Online shoppers are finding more and more ways to shop than ever before. They are using smartphones, tablets, traditional PCs, and most often, a combination of the three. This modern shopper is ready to buy whenever and wherever they chose, even if it means while at work. In this infographic from Monetate, the ecommerce personalization company, you will see the various trends of this shopper including the days and times of the week they shop, and the types of devices they use to make online purchases.
As chocolates and flowers make their way across the country for Valentine’s Day, UPS is preparing for the lovers holiday by adding 38 additional flights to their fleet in order to handle to demand. In this video from UPS, the shipping and delivery giant shows how it handles and streamlines the shipping process of the fragile and temperature sensitive goods.
The global shoe designer and retailer Clarks Americas teams up with Invodo Video Solutions to further expand their online channel to create the best in-store experience. The videos engage consumers, drive purchases and its content demonstrates value. The benefits of the video creates a unique shoe shopping experience tailored for each consumer’s lifestyle.
Amazon extends its domination of ecommerce into the mobile platform, according to the ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition. In the survey, which was conducted of more than 6,200 consumers during the peak holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the online marketplace scored highest among 25 of the top mobile commerce companies.
ComScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Full Year and Q4 2012 U.S. retail ecommerce sales estimates. For the full year, U.S. retail ecommerce sales reached $186.2 billion, an increase of 15%– the strongest annual growth rate since before the recession. Q4 2012 sales grew 14 percent year-over-year to $56.8 billion, marking the first ever $50 billion quarter.
Channel Intelligence, an ecommerce data service company, announced on its blog that they have been acquired by Google for $125 million. According to Mashable, the deal “is part of an ongoing effort to improve on the Google Shopping experience” and could “provide sellers with better tools to manage and market their products across the web.”
After teaming up with Kenshoo Social, a social marketing platform, to create an integrated Facebook marketing campaign, online retailer, Zappos, generated approximately 85,000 visits to its website in just two months.
Ecommerce sales in B2C have soared to new heights in 2012. According to eMarketer.com, ecommerce sales topped $1 trillion for the first time. The B2C sales grew from 21.1% last year to $1 trillion.