Not long ago the Monday after Thanksgiving was just the Monday after Thanksgiving. There was no special observance associated with it, except that it was the day that millions of people returned to work. Cyber Monday is a term originally created in 2005 by marketing companies who wanted to encourage people to shop online. Eleven years later, Cyber Monday is an international marketing phenomenon used by online retailers and wholesalers all over the world.
ECommerce’s Black Friday
Everyone knows about Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year with the most outrageous deals in the most heavily promoted sales. People will spend nights camped out in freezing cold parking lots just waiting for a chance at a doorbuster deal. However, in recent years Black Friday has garnered a few black eyes with the behavior of some of the crowds eclipsing the discounts, and also spirit of the holiday. For those who are not into body-checking strangers into the butter cookie display, or who want to keep tabs on their leftover turkey, Cyber Monday has become the most anticipated shopping day of the year. No freezing parking lots, no bench clearing brawls, just the shopper and their Internet connection hunting deals from eCommerce vendors small and large.
Cyber Monday for Sellers
IBM’s holiday benchmark report for Cyber Monday of 2013 showed a significant increase in sales by over 20 percent from the previous year, and also highlighted some trends for retailers and wholesalers to consider.
- Biggest cities for cyber sales were Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington DC. Targeting ads these areas may pay much higher returns for the advertising spend.
- The average Cyber Monday order weighed in at $128.77 – a minus one percent difference from the previous year.
- Mobile devices drove more than 31 percent of cyber Monday traffic, an increase of 45 percent from the previous year. Smartphones accounted for 19 percent while tablets brought in 11 percent.
- While smartphones accounted for more traffic, it is tablets that accounted for more sales. Tablets brought in 11 percent of online sales, where smart phones brought in only around 5 percent.
- Tablet users spent an average of $126.30 per order where smart phone users spent about $100 less.
USA Today noted that the booming online sales were in marked contrast to sluggish overall sales going into the holiday season. Cyber Monday’s estimated $2.29 billion did not take into account the money spent online Thanksgiving day, Black Friday, or over the weekend. For a bricks and mortar store, or temporary retail – such as a farmers market or swap meet booth – opening an eCommerce portal can often open a portal to a customer base that you may never have known existed. ECommerce is a growing part of the economy, and has made itself at home on the computers, laptops, tablets, and smart phones across several generations. Shopping online once considered a novelty bordering on a fad, is now so commonplace that people can even order their groceries from their computer or smart phone.
Ecommerce’s Rising Star
ECommerce businesses operating from websites or online eCommerce platforms such as Shopify are rising stars in an economy that is still shaking off the after effects of the recession that began in 2008. In research done by eMarketer B2C (business to consumer) eCommerce sales are expected to reach $1.5 trillion worldwide, an estimated 1/5 increase. Online sales driven by mobile devices – now called m-commerce – expanding user bases in emerging markets, and new international players and brands are expected to drive sales that may even surpass that figure. Statistia estimates that mobile traffic will continue to grow as a factor in online sales, more than doubling 2014’s estimate to $133 billion by 2018 as consumers from emerging markets, and the more widespread availability and affordability of tablets make m-commerce shopping easier.
Getting on the Bandwagon
While all these studies and statistics tell a story of larger players, it is small and middle size businesses that stand to benefit the most from the increase of online platforms from which to represent their company and their products. For customers who become lost in the labyrinths of Amazon, and disdain Wal-Mart’s parking lot, Cyber Monday offers a chance to find unique and more personalized gift offerings then one will find on a shelf in a department store or mass merchandiser. In the search for unique and different, the gift over which everyone exclaims, “where did you get that?” A unique and memorable brand will often win the customer where something off the shelf might otherwise prevail. Preparing to open an online store to capture these shoppers is a worthwhile smart money move. Consider your options carefully, and choose the best platform for you and your business.
The post It’s the most wonderful time of the year appeared first on AndroidGuys.