Trend to Watch: Shopping Focused on Key Promotional Periods (3 of 4)

Repost from the Google Retail Blog 2/25/2010 12:11:00 PM

In addition to the extended shopping cycle and increased online research, we've also found that purchases were concentrated around key promotional periods such as the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, last minute, and post-holiday time periods.

Taking a look at when consumers completed the majority of their purchasing in the graph below, we find that almost one quarter of consumers completed the majority of their purchasing over the 4-day Thanksgiving Weekend (Black Friday - Cyber Monday), while another 14% completed the majority of their purchasing at the last minute.

Likewise, though few completed the majority of their purchasing during the post-holiday season, 64% of consumers did shop during this period.

What's driving the concentrated shopping around these time periods? When asked, consumers said they were taking advantage of sales, making additional purchases for themselves and others, and shop for upcoming occasions.

With record e-commerce sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and 44% of consumers identifying promotions as a key driver of their shopping decisions, consumers have remained deal-seekers through the end of 2009 and into 2010.

Headed into Mother's Day, Father's Day, and graduation seasons, ensure you are attracting the price conscious consumer through your marketing efforts.

Source: Google/OTX Post-Holiday Consumer Study, January 2010. Q3 [1] And, when did you do the majority of your holiday purchasing? n=1850. [2] Q1 Which of the following retail (non-grocery) purchases, if any, do you plan to make this week? n=2757 [3] Q7 For which of the following reasons did you shop after Christmas/Holiday Season (during post-holiday sales or markdowns) or are you still doing your Holiday shopping? Select all that apply. n=819.

Trend to Watch: Research On the Rise (2 of 4)

Reposted from the Google Retail blog

What other consumer trends should we keep an eye on in 2010? The lengthening shopping cycle we discussed last week hinted at the increasing importance of research as a trend to watch.

Taking a look at category level research trends from the 2009 holiday shopping season, we found that consumers begin researching far in advance of all retail purchases. Consumers are especially cognisant when it comes to electronics, appliance and furnishing purchases.

And, with the increased search volume in the electronics, appliance, and furnishing categories, much of this research will take place online.

Be sure to "stay on" as consumers not only research far in advance but research increasingly online for upcoming seasonal purchases.

Source: Google/OTX Post-Holiday Consumer Study, January 2010. Q1A Listed below are the products or services you mentioned you purchased this Holiday Season. How long prior to making this/these purchase(s) did you research it/them, if at all? (Select one for each.) Mean summary. n=1850.

Reposted from the Google Retail Blog

System Maintenance Scheduled for Saturday, Feb 20

We will be performing system maintenance February 20; the interface will be unavailable at this time. Tracking will not be interrupted and reporting data will be restored shortly after the interface comes back online.

We anticipate the interface will be unavailable from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. CDT (GMT -6).

Trend to Watch: Consumers Start Early, End Late (1 of 4)

Repost from the Google Retail Blog

The online holiday shopping season was a season of historic highs: $29 billion in online sales, the first $900M day in e-commerce history, 20% growth in Black Friday searches, and an even more impressive 60% growth in Cyber Monday searches. How did this historic online growth translate at the consumer level? Throughout the holiday season we tracked consumer research and purchase behavior and the results revealed a trend to watch in 2010: Consumers start early and end late.

Read the full post on the Google Retail Blog