Epic shifts in consumer shopping behavior and channel usage are introducing complex new dynamics into how retailers tackle the crucial holiday shopping season. Retailers need to meet the rising expectations of discriminating and empowered consumers to be successful. Learn more at www.ibm.com/holiday-readiness

1. $
$
November
December
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Social
Mobile
Natural search
Referral sites
Marketing
Paid search
Direct load
Overall conversion
2.1%
2.9%
3.5%
3.7%
4.9%
5.1%
6.0%
4.9%
+3.6%
+1.1%
-4.7%
-6.6%
Epic shifts in consumer shopping behavior and channel usage are introducing complex new
dynamics into how retailers tackle the crucial holiday shopping season. Retailers need to meet
the rising expectations of discriminating and empowered consumers to be successful.
The impact of the 2012 holiday shopping season
Promotions launched earlier, buying started sooner, peaks were
higher, and deals lasted longer.
3. It’s
becoming
more
difficult
to get—
and keep—
customer
attention.
Four key challenges for retailers this holiday season
Thanksgiving
sales were up
17%
over 2011.
Cyber Monday
sales were up
30%
over 2011.
The
biggest
online shopping
day ever!
Black Friday
sales were up
21%
over 2011.
Fri
Average order value was up overall during the 2012 holiday season, but fell on
Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Items per order showed a pronounced
and sustained gain to a peak of
10.5in March 2013—nearly double the low
of 5.4 in September 2010.
Retailers
are doing
a good job
promoting sales
and cross-selling.
10
Average time
on site sank to
6:26in November 2012.
Page views
per session fell to
6.7in January 2013.
The bounce
rate peaked at
39%
that same month.
Mobile users
versus overall
population
(March 2013)
Had a higher
bounce rate
(44% vs 38%)
Spent less
time on site
(3:48 vs 6:33)
Viewed fewer
pages per session
(5.4 vs 7.0)
Sixth Annual US Online Retail
Holiday Readiness Benchmark
4. Good
customers
are hard
to find,
and
even
harder to
convert.
Conversion rate
was recorded at
4.9%
in March 2013,
maintaining a
three-year average.
Shopping cart
abandonment
was also steady
until spiking to a
record high of
69%
in February 2013.
Cart
conversion hit
a record low of
30%
that same month.
Conversion rates by channel
Direct load and paid search channels
were most effective for conversion,
while social was the least effective,
in March 2013.
Deliver a
superior
mobile
experience
Retarget
browsers
and cart
abandoners
Accurately
measure
channel
performance
Optimize
digital
marketing
Progress toward
interactive
cross-channel
marketing
Tips to make the holiday season profitable
IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark is an analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that tracks more than
a million transactions a day, capturing online marketing results and commerce data from more than 700 retail
web sites. All of the data is aggregated and anonymous.
1. The
hype
around
mobile
appears to
be justified.
2.Customers
are ordering
more—
but they
want bigger
discounts.
$
$
$
Over 15%
of all online sales
come from
mobile
devices.
Over 25%
of all site traffic
comes
from
mobile
devices.
47%
of all
email is
opened on
mobile devices.
December 2011
December 2012
iPhone & Android
iPad
iPad traffic Conversion rates (Black Friday 2012)
2x 2.5x
iPad now consistently leads all devices with more overall traffic, more growth and
higher conversion rates.
For more information, go to ibm.com/holiday-readiness
Pre-Thanksgiving promotion
Monday after Cyber Monday
Tuesday after Cyber Monday
Green Monday
Free-shipping Friday
Christmas