Tag Archives: Holiday Shopping

Rewind Paid Search Index Released for December 2010

Posted on January 5, 2011 by PM Digital Research

Holiday 2010 was the best season online retailers have had in several years, by all early accounts.  You may have read some of the welcome growth figures that have been released so far:  12% year-over-year from comScore, 15.4% from MasterCard SpendingPulse; those are for holiday e-commerce overall—but what about sales driven only by paid search?  The December edition of the PM Digital Rewind Index, which measures monthly paid search performance for online retailers, shows that year-over-year revenue for this source was up 47% for PM Digital clients during this most important shopping month, and that the top sales days came early in the first and second weeks.

Click here to continue reading on the PM Digital Blog.

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Sightings: QR Codes

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Paradysz Research

QR (Quick Response) Codes are data matrix barcodes that can be read via a reader application installed on a cell phone.  They are used to take a piece of information from a magazine advertisement, a print catalog or web page, and put it in to your cell phone.  Promotions like free shipping and discounts no doubt have the most impact on consumer response, but it is interesting to note how some  marketers are continuing to innovate with new ways to grab consumers’ attention. The following promotions from MarketRelevance were notable as they integrated these codes.

Note: Click on the barcode graphic for a more complete view.

Target
In addition to promoting its low prices, savings with in-house credit card, coupons, gift cards, ease of shopping online and of course lots of holiday merchandise, Target’s latest print book encourages recipients to “Scan Joyfully and Often” on the inside cover, and three steps explain how. Users are encouraged to download the free ScanLife app at Target.com/scan and then scan the barcodes throughout the book “for more fun surprises” (short URLs are offered next to the QR codes as an option.) The initial one on the inside cover links to Target.com’s “Christmas Deal Feed.” Two others link to videos featuring Nina Garcia and Sabrina Soto offering fashion and decorating tips. Another, located in a catalog spread dedicated to Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis’ exclusive line of cookware, links to the chef’s Sauteed Shrimp Cocktail recipe.

Vitals: direct mail, delivered 11/25/10, 10½” x 7”, 52 pages

Eastbay
Since the summer, Eastbay sporting goods has used tags to connect recipients to exclusive video, typically behind the scenes at photo shoots with the sports stars that grace the covers of the print catalogs. Recent efforts featured Green Bay Packer Greg Jennings and basketball star for the Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Iguodala. Microsoft Tag Reader is required to read this tag, and the book directs recipients to http://www.gettag.mobi/ to download the app.

Vitals: direct mail, delivered 9/24/10, 10½” x 8”, 92 pages

As a side note, these two examples do not use the same readers, which seems potentially problematic for an end user. It will be interesting to see if a dominant QR player emerges, as users will most likely not be inclined to download multiple apps to read different types of barcodes unless there’s a sizeable incentive.

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Rewind Paid Search Performance Index Released for November 2010

Posted on December 3, 2010 by PM Digital Research

The online holiday shopping season has started off with a bang.  The November 2010 edition of the PM Digital Rewind Index, which measures U.S. paid search performance for online retailers, confirmed this was especially true for search marketers, who saw compelling growth in key metrics on and around Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

To put the key holiday shopping days in context, monthly data for November showed that paid search revenue was up 60%, year-over-year.  PM Digital clients achieved this growth with an increase of paid search spend of 69%.  Clicks, conversion and AOV were also up in November.

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2010 Online Retail Holiday Planning Preview

Posted on September 22, 2010 by PM Digital Research

A look back at last year’s PM Digital Rewind report on paid search performance for retailers offers insights for planning Holiday 2010.

As the new holiday season approaches, we wanted to redirect readers to PM Digital Research’s post spotlighting the Holiday 2009 Rewind study that looked at paid search campaigns for the past holiday season, including peak periods for clicks, sales and conversion.

There are insights we can glean from 2009 performance to inform the outlook for the 2010 Holiday, but there are also other performance indicators from 2010 that shed encouraging light for this year’s holiday.  Most recently, we experienced a very strong Labor Day, and the rest of September so far, continues to show positive signs for online shopping, with paid search revenue, clicks, conversion and average order value all up.

Click here to continue reading on the PM Digital Blog.

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Retail Trends: The Unstoppable Search for Free Shipping

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Glenn Lalich

From years of tracking promotions, we know that free shipping incentives have risen steadily across all consumer retail sectors.  On the offline side, our MarketTrends studies show that 24% of apparel catalog campaigns included a free shipping incentive in 2009, up from 21% in 2008.  Similar growth was seen in non-apparel catalogs.  

For online, the story has been much the same, but the data is more telling. In addition to retail competitive activity, search data also helps us gauge consumer interest and intent with regard to free shipping.  And today’s shoppers are very interested in free delivery, and more so every year.  

Click here to continue reading on the PM Digital Blog.

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Black Friday Search Trends, Past and Present

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Glenn Lalich

“Black Friday” search data from Hitwise underscores how consumers are increasingly plugged-in to online retail research and deal hunting.

I sat in on a good session from Hitwise Research Director Heather Doughtery this week that looked back at Black Friday 2008 and offered some preliminary stats for Black Friday 2009. The findings are fairly predictable and mirror what we know from our own data:  consumers are researching earlier and looking for deals.  The bigger question for this season is to what degree the economy and unemployment will accelerate the thrifty, marketing-savvy behaviors already in play.  Below are a few takeaways:

Black Friday searches start earlier each year. Per Hitwise, early “Black Friday” searches in 2006 started the week ending 9/30; for 2009 those same searches started the week ending 8/8.  At this rate, “Christmas in July” may lose its oxymoron status by next year.  Of course we’re talking searches, not purchases.  But unless a retailer is sitting on headline-grabbing price reductions for late in the season, capturing mindshare early is crucial.  Consumers need to know where the good deals are coming from, and a retailer may have to expend more effort now if they haven’t laid the groundwork already.

Click here to continue reading on the PM Digital Blog.

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