March continued to see growth in both paid search expenditures and revenue, which PM Digital has been tracking consistently since last spring.  PM Digital’s March 2011 Rewind Index, which measures monthly U.S. paid search performance for online retail clients, shows that revenue from this source was up 39%, on a spend increase of 30%.  Clicks were up a healthy 12% year-over-year, and for the second consecutive month, improvement in the average conversion rate outpaced the growth in all other metrics.  Average orders saw another modest increase vs. last March.  The end of the month produced all of the top sales days, a good sign as online retailers head into April.

YoY Performance Metrics for March 2011

March 2011 Top Sales Days (Revenue):  Thu 3/31, Tue 3/22, Tue 3/29, Sun 3/27
March 2011 Top Sales Days (Orders):  Tue 3/29, Sun 3/27, Thu 3/31, Tue 3/22

As mentioned, all of March’s top sales days for PM Digital retail clients came at the end of the month.  Furthermore, these top days were the same whether measured by order volume or revenue, though they varied slightly in ranking. Revenue peaked on Thu 3/31 and Tue 3/22, while orders peaked Tue 3/29 and Sun 3/27.  In general, the month did not see significant spikes in the data as in other months, which can be expected since March has few traditional retail holidays. The end-of-month uptick can be seen even more clearly when the data is rolled up by week (below).

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February was another good month for paid search campaigns for online retail, continuing the pattern of online retail growth outpacing growth for retail overall.  PM Digital’s February 2011 Rewind Index, which measures monthly paid search performance for online retail clients, shows that revenue from this source was up 36%, achieved with a corresponding 29% increase in paid search spend.  Clicks were up slightly year-over-year, but the bigger factor contributing to sales growth was especially strong improvement in the average conversion rate.  The traditionally promotion-laden Presidents’ Day emerged as the top day in February for several key paid search metrics, namely spend, clicks and revenue.

YoY Performance Metrics for February 2011

February 2011 Top Sales Days:  Mon 2/21 (Presidents’ Day), Tues 2/8
Other Key Days:  Fri 2/25 (Revenue), Thu 2/10 (Orders)

February’s top paid search revenue day for PM Digital retail clients was Monday, 2/21, which was also Presidents’ Day.  Tues 2/8 was a close contender and ended up the second highest day for paid search revenue, as well as the top day for order volume.  In general, sales indexes remained solidly above average during February’s first ten days and final four days.  Valentine’s Day may have exerted some influence on consumers during the first third of the month, while spring merchandise previews may have had more of a role as March approached.

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If the holidays were marked by the return of meaningful growth in paid search, then post-holiday may long be remembered for…snow, more snow, and even more snow.  But the past month can also be credited with another type of accumulation:  more sales generated by paid search.  PM Digital’s January 2011 Rewind Index, which measures monthly paid search performance for online retail clients, shows that year-over-year revenue from this source was up 36%.  PM Digital clients achieved this growth with a 28% increase in spend.  Clicks and conversion also showed healthy increases, while average order (AOV) also continued to climb.

YoY Performance Metrics for January 2011

January 2011 Top Sales Days:  Sun 1/30, Mon 1/17 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
Other Key Days:  Sun 1/2, Fri 1/21 (Orders); Fri 1/21, Mon 1/31, Sun 1/2, Sun 1/23 (Revenue)

Mon 1/17 and Sun 1/30 shared the spotlight as the top overall days for PM Digital’s online retail clients in January, measured by paid search order volume.  Revenue also indexed highest on these two days, with Sun 1/30 just edging into the top spot for that metric.  Sundays in general indexed high for sales in January, a departure from the primary focus on Mondays seen during the year-end holidays.

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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.

December 2010 Top Sales Days:  Mon 12/13, Mon 12/6, Sun 12/5, Tue 12/7, Sun 12/12

Mon 12/13, a.k.a. “Green Monday,” was the top overall day for both revenue and order volume for PM Digital’s online retail clients in December.  Other peak days were Sun 12/12 and those surrounding Monday, 12/6.  As expected, sales began to slow after Green Monday and continued dropping as Christmas neared and shipping deadlines passed.  “Free Shipping Day,” Fri 12/17, was the last day with average or better sales figures for the month.  The rebound started on 12/26, typically spurred by gift card redeemers and After-Christmas sales.

YoY Sales Metrics for Noteworthy Dates in December 2010

In addition to being the top sales day, Green Monday also saw considerable growth in revenue and orders metrics on a year-over-year basis.  Even more impressive, though, was the growth for Free Shipping Day, Fri 12/17 vs. prior year.  While that day’s revenue was average compared to other December 2010 days, when compared to the same day last year, revenue had shot up 80%.  If marketers decide to allocate more search budget to this day in future seasons, Free Shipping Day could potentially become another Cyber Monday or Black Friday in terms of pent-up consumer demand.  Sales are already typically strong in that mid-December week.

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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.

November 2010 Top Sales Days:  Mon 11/29 (Cyber Monday), Fri 11/26 (Black Friday)

Paid search sales metrics for PM Digital’s retail clients showed outstanding growth on Black Friday and Cyber Monday vs. the same days last year; revenue increased 70% on both days, while order volume increased 62% and 63%. 

Thanksgiving Day and the Wednesday immediately prior also showed significant growth in sales, with “Turkey Day” revenue doubling since 2009.  Though sales on these days are much lower than the two high-volume days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the strong year-over-year growth reflects the rise in early holiday shopping.

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The encouraging trends we’ve reported all summer for online retail continued in September, kicking off with a strong Labor Day weekend. The PM Digital Rewind Index, which measures monthly paid search performance for retailers, shows that paid search revenue was up 66% for Labor Day weekend vs. prior year, and up 57% total for all of September (see chart below for search metrics covering the full month).  Spend was also up for September (+65%), along with clicks and conversion metrics.

September 2010 Top Sales Days (Revenue):  Mon 9/6, Mon 9/13, Tues 9/21
September 2010 Top Sales Days (Orders):  Mon 9/6, Thur 9/16, Tues 9/21

Not surprisingly, the top sales day for both order volume and revenue was Labor Day, Monday 9/6.   The other notable date where orders and revenue peaked together was Tuesday, 9/21.

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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 our 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.

Per Deloitte, direct-to-consumer online sales are expected to grow 15% this holiday season, compared to a more modest 2% growth for the retail sector overall.  Further reasons for an optimistic online outlook include these two facts: Holiday 2010 will bring one more shopping day than 2009, plus an additional Monday on which it may be possible to ship orders. 

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Paid search metrics for PM Digital’s online retail clients in August continued to reflect positive trends for online shopping.  The PM Digital Rewind Index, which measures paid search performance for online retail marketers during the prior month, shows that paid search revenue was up 57% in August on a year-over-year basis.  This growth follows YoY increases tracked previously for June and July.  Paid search advertising spend was up in August (68%) vs. the same month in 2009, and increases were also seen in clicks and conversion metrics.  After a slight dip in June and July (-1% to -2% YoY), average order size was essentially flat in August, with growth of less than one-half percent.  CPCs continue to trend upwards.

August 2010 Top Sales Days (Revenue):  Mon 8/16, Wed 8/25, Wed 8/18
August 2010 Top Sales Days (Orders):  Mon 8/16, Mon 8/30, Sun 8/22

The sales metrics of order volume and revenue were generally higher in the latter half of August, with the peak date falling on Mon 8/16.  While the first half of the month had several days with above-average sales, all three of the top sales days came later in the month.

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