There is nothing better than looking back in history to look for future guidance. During the 2008 holiday season, online merchants faced the most challenging conditions in e-commerce history. While there have been some optimistic economic signs recently, it makes sense to learn from last year’s experience to prepare for this year’s selling season.
Here are some key trends and highlights from the 2008 holiday season study conducted by shop.org in partnership with Shipzilla that you can use when planning for the coming season.
Consumer habits in 2008
- 43% of consumers started their holiday shopping before November, almost 2/3 didn’t finish their shopping until the last two weeks of December.
- Convenience and free shipping offers were key drivers in pushing consumers to shop online versus brick and mortar stores.
- Seventy percent of consumers found an online store because they had shopped there before, while search engine results drove awareness of sites for one-third.
- Over one-third of consumers frequently used customer ratings and reviews as part of their online shopping experiences with another 30% citing occasional use.
- In terms of site features, featured sale item pages were frequently utilized in contrast to gift idea centers and gift finder/product choosers, which went largely unused.
- Gift cards accounted for less than one-quarter of total online gift purchases, but the volume of gift cards with values under $10 grew considerably compared to 2007.
Website owner observations from 2008
- Over 80% of website owners concluded that email to their subscriber/customer list was by far the most effective online marketing vehicle.
- Paid search was the first (39%) among marketing channels that gained the most customers who ultimately made purchases on the site.
- Among promotions, almost half of merchants surveyed said that percentage-off coupons and free standard shipping offers (with conditions) attracted the most customers.
The important do’s and don’ts for this holiday season
- Test your website’s search functionality and overhaul FAQs with holiday-specific information in mind.
- Train customer service reps about your products and help them understand how to close a sale.
- Increase the use of tried and true online marketing vehicles such as organic/natural search and emails to your customer list.
- Tap social media such as blogs and RSS feeds, social shopping sites, and Facebook/MySpace.
- Offer limited-time-only discounts.
- Resist the temptation to extend shipping deadlines.
- Don’t overlook the potential of free returns offers.
- Keep a close eye on the processes for shipping, fulfillment, and order management every day of the holiday season.
