Tag Archives: Holiday

PM Digital’s Holiday 2009 Rewind Study Released

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Glenn Lalich

This year’s report on paid search performance underscores dramatic improvements for retailers in Holiday 2009 compared to 2008.

PM Digital’s 4Q & Holiday 2009 Rewind report has been released with a look at paid search performance for retailers during the 2009 holiday season.  And as the study quickly points out, what a difference a year makes.  With 12 months’ distance from the bleakness of late 2008—a season in which e-commerce holiday sales actually dropped—online shoppers in 2009 seemed ready to buy with a renewed commitment to enjoy the holidays.

While research firm comScore cited 5% growth for online retailers, PM Digital’s clients saw paid search demand grow 19% on average.  Clicks, conversion and average order value were all up.

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Last Minute Thoughts on Holiday Online Retail

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

The major snowstorm on the East Coast on Saturday and Sunday lifted online sales for 67% of PM Digital’s retail clients an estimated 10% vs. what they would have seen for the weekend without the storm.  For the apparel category, specifically, this lift affected 71% of PM Digital clients.

The strong weekend results for online sales is icing on the cake to a strong overall holiday season for ecommerce.  As has been reported by comScore and others, online sales are up year over year in 2009 vs. 2008, so there is a lot to celebrate.

Some of the key drivers in lifting sales this year in particular were 1) promotions; 2) gift cards; 3) egift cards) 4) accurate forecasting (running budgets high on the best days and scaling back on lower-converting days), and 5) taking advantage of best practices in search strategies.

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A Final Holiday Prediction for Online Retail

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Chris Paradysz

Significant marketing opportunities remain during the final shopping days of 2009.

Using this year’s performance data, including clicks, conversions and sales, combined with the current demand run rate versus forecasts, I anticipate a rapidly accelerating online growth curve beginning on December 16th and 17th and growing through that weekend. And, the last-minute burst on the 21st to beat the shipping cutoff is going to be unprecedented. There’s a big opportunity to get ahead of this with promotions, search copy and even bid management so retailers can capture the demand and take a little pressure off the order influx.

There have been significant buying pattern shifts all Holiday season, particularly during the Black Friday to Cyber Monday run-up. Consumers who have been waiting it out for better promotions will be rewarded as they have been now for the past two seasons. We believe we’re going to see progressive growth starting this weekend, and that this year’s high-water mark could surpass CyberMonday.

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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.

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The One Sure Thing for Retailers This Holiday

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

Value has moved firmly from accessory to necessity.  Retailers with a convincing value proposition – be it price, quality or payment terms – will fare best during the year-end holidays.

layaway3I’ve just returned from two retail-focused conferences (the Shop.org Annual Summit and another NYC apparel-focused show).  The overriding theme at both was that value will be the predominant message of the holiday.  Those who promote value and whose message resonates with customers will win, and those who don’t will miss out.

Today we’re on the cusp of the holiday, but back in July, Kmart was already promoting their Christmas tree section.  At the time, I read a few articles criticizing the retailer for pushing the season, but I don’t think that was Kmart’s sole mission.  Rather, the offer in Kmart’s aisle was layaway, an old fashioned practice whose time is once again appropriate.

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Holiday Sales Economic Data: Still Too Early

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Chris Paradysz

Job security and a disconnect between consumer confidence and consumer spending loom unpredictably over year-end holiday sales, but significant opportunities remain for marketers to optimize ROI and grow demand.

After months behind doors with our analysts and technology group building out potential new bid management algorithms and rules, this is the time of year when we start testing and tweaking our hypotheses for Holiday.  This annual rite is both a quantitative and emotional climb to Black Friday where we can better forecast Holiday sales demand.  August and September’s economic data is a head-spinner when comparatively evaluating it versus 2008.  Historically, post-recession economic indicators are more predictable relative to buying behavior than times that are in rapid decline as were August and September 2008.

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What Our Clients Are Talking About: The Top 10

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

How to lower cpcs with pay per click media sources. Last year we saw paid search trademark terms increase noticeably in the 4th quarter, and the shopping comparison engines have always increased cpcs during the holiday season.  Reducing cpcs in each channel won’t necessarily lower either media provider’s revenue.  On the contrary, lower cpcs should enable marketers to spend more since they’ll hit their ROI goals more easily.  For the CSEs in particular, it would be beneficial if they pursued the math on this.

Efforts made to increase website conversion rate. Since even small increases can make a huge impact on revenue, our retail clients are, at present, unveiling new technology investments in time for the holiday season and hoping the needle moves in the right direction.

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