Black Friday and Cyber Monday are already behind us, but retailers are not likely to see a slowdown in the online holiday shopping frenzy yet, according to industry analysts at Google and Adobe. In fact, this year’s online shopping volume will be one for the books, says Adobe. The company expects consumers to spend a record $124.1 billion online this holiday season in the U.S.
Retailers would be wise to heed these holiday season shopping predictions and advice, if they want to feel cheerful come January:
- Online retailers with physical storefronts will see higher conversion rates, according to Adobe, which found that nearly half of all online shoppers are likely to go to a store first to check out a product they plan to purchase later online. Retailers who are able to offer this opportunity, are seeing 28% higher online conversions year-to-date, according to Adobe.
- Google agrees: according to its own survey, 61% of shoppers prefer brands with a physical location to online-only sellers. But, to underscore how interwoven the two are, it reminds retailers that 78% of brick-and-mortar shoppers first planned their store visit online and most of them kept comparing their options while in the store. That’s why it is crucial for retailers to up their mobile game, says Google.
- The one channel not delivering higher conversions for retailers is social media. There has been an -11% drop in revenue-per-visitor since third quarter of 2016 from social platforms, according to Adobe, and 25% fewer people expect to get their gift ideas from social media, compared with two years ago. Instead, they are turning to search and referral sites, like RetailMeNot.
Want to avoid being caught unprepared for the holiday shopping season? Forecasting might help. Google’s straightforward tips of how to create a retail forecasting model, along with Net Conversion’s expertise in testing and implementing it, is all you need to make this season one for the books, indeed.
