{"id":5726,"date":"2015-11-24T20:33:41","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T01:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=5726"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:54:31","slug":"boost-your-ecommerce-sales-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/boost-your-ecommerce-sales-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Holiday Retail Sales &#8211; 6 Effective Ways to Boost Your E-commerce Sales This Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 5<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>It doesn\u2019t matter now. Whether or not you\u2019re ready for Black Friday and the holiday sales season, it\u2019s upon us.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been working all year to get ready for this year\u2019s blitz, the overall retail sales predictions are mostly favorable. And even the negative stuff isn\u2019t too bad.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/graham-winfrey\/why-retail-holiday-sales-will-surpass-2014.html\">Inc.com quoted a Deloitte-authored sales forecast<\/a> that calls for total retail sales of $965 billion this year, up about 4% from 2014. But the more pessimistic analysts will take that as somewhat negative news because it falls short of last year\u2019 5.2% increase in sales.<\/li>\n<li>Taking data from forecasts done exclusively for them, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2015\/10\/05\/us-usa-retail-holidays-idUSKCN0RZ11Q20151005\">Reuters offers one of the gloomier predictions<\/a>, saying that sales growth will be the slowest since 2009. But there will still be growth: 2.8% to 3.4% according to their predictions<\/li>\n<li>The National Retail Federation, the eternally optimistic standard bearer for the retail sector calls for \u201chealthy sales gains\u201d of 3.7% this season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/2013EcommerceHolidayShopping.gif\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2871\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/2013EcommerceHolidayShopping.gif\" alt=\"Holiday shopping conversion optimization\" width=\"550\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Fortunately, even if if you\u2019ve done absolutely nothing to prepare for holiday sales, all\u2019s not lost. Ecommerce and online shopping continues to grow at a healthier pace than overall retail sales and it gives all retailers the opportunity to capitalize on \u201clast minute\u201d promotional opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0Black Friday and Super Saturday have been traditional big sales days for bricks and mortar retailers, ecommerce seems to spawn more landmark sales days every year.<\/p>\n<p>MarketingLand.com lists <a href=\"http:\/\/marketingland.com\/5-important-dates-online-shopping-may-left-off-holiday-marketing-calendar-152198\">five important online shopping days<\/a> that digital marketers should pay attention to, beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Cyber Sunday, November 29th<\/strong> &#8211; Sales are increasing on the day before Cyber Monday as more retailers give shoppers an online preview of Cyber Monday deals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Green Monday, December 7th<\/strong> &#8211; Second only to Cyber Monday for single-day holiday sales totals, Green Monday is your chance to ensure that gifts will arrive before Christmas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Small Business Saturday, November 28th<\/strong> &#8211; While intended to boost sales at small, local bricks and mortar retailers, digital marketing tools like geo-targeting helps to boost sales online and offline.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Free-Shipping Deadline Day<\/strong> &#8211; Whether it\u2019s Green Monday or you want to take advantage of shorter shipping times, one promotion every online retailer can run is a countdown to the last day on which shoppers can have purchases delivered for free before Christmas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Last-Minute Shoppers<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; There\u2019s always someone on your list that you miss until the very last minute. Digital gift cards are a great solution and retailers can promote them right up to &#8230; the very last minute.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Holiday2.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5733\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Holiday2.gif\" alt=\"factors the influence holiday purchases graphic\" width=\"584\" height=\"486\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cBlack Friday isn\u2019t Dead\u201d &#8211; What Ecommerce Retailers Can\u00a0Do This Season to Help Next Year\u2019s Sales<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the NRF writes that \u201cWe know that Black Friday isn\u2019t dead\u201d, regardless of the context, it should make any retailer, ecommerce or bricks and mortar, stop and ponder.<\/p>\n<p>What do they mean Black Friday isn\u2019t dead? Who said anything about Black Friday\u2019s demise? Black Friday is now an international retail sales sensation, with Canada, Brazil and UK retailers, among many others, promoting it heavily, even though it\u2019s just a name in those markets, without a basis in the calendar.<\/p>\n<p>But the truth is, after peaking at $59.1 billion in 2012, Black Friday sales have decreased steadily ever since. And they&#8217;re expected to sink\u00a0below $50 billion this year &#8211;\u00a0an over 20% total drop in just three years.\u00a0All while overall retail sales and ecommerce sales have steadily increased in the same time period.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/black-friday-spending-total-us.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5727\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/black-friday-spending-total-us.png\" alt=\"black friday spending chart\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So, while claims that it\u2019s dead are coming mainly from \u201cclick-bait\u201d headlines, Black Friday is definitely changing.<\/p>\n<p>And that change is largely due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/online-shopping-personalization\/\">online shopping<\/a> and ecommerce trends.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This Holiday Season Look for Emerging Ecommerce Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you do nothing else this holiday sales season, it is important to watch for emerging online shopping trends. Retail and shopping habits are evolving rapidly and staying ahead of the wave means keeping abreast with changes. And the waning of Black Friday as a monolithic high-retail-sales day is just one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>1. Why Black Friday Sales are Slipping<\/strong> &#8211; Digital marketing is the reason Black Friday has become a big sales day in markets where the day doesn\u2019t actually exist. The splash of U.S. Black Friday promotions spilled over on the web and shoppers in other markets began demanding similar deals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">But if digital gave Black Friday an international appeal, digital is also reducing its prominence as an exceptional sales day. Online retailers don\u2019t have to wait for any particular day to offer a deal. In the hyper competition for sales that began in 2008, ecommerce sites looked for any and every way to capture shoppers\u2019 imaginations and sales.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">This year, Best Buy, itself suffering some sales issues, began promoting holiday sales online on October 6th.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>2. Smartphone\u00a0Users Shopping in Micro-Moments<\/strong> &#8211; Google has identified an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkwithgoogle.com\/articles\/holiday-shopping-trends-2015.html?utm_source=2015-11-think-content-alert-usa&amp;utm_medium=email-d&amp;utm_campaign=20151119-retail-alert-OT-OT-OT&amp;utm_content=article-title&amp;mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRohu6jPZKXonjHpfsX67%2BQqWaa%2FlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4HSspgI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTrDBMaN2wrgLXhY%3D\">online holiday shopping trend<\/a> trend that shows shoppers are forgoing Black Friday lineups and day-long mall marathons in favor shopping in micro-moments on their smartphones.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/holiday-shopping-stat.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5730\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/holiday-shopping-stat.png\" alt=\"mobile shopping statistic graphic\" width=\"600\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Google\u2019s numbers show that 54% of all online holiday shoppers (browsers and buyers) say they plan to shop on their smartphones during spare moments throughout the day, like when they are in a lineup, or on the bus. And Google predicts this trend to be spread throughout the holiday season, not on any one day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Google points to a 7% drop in the time spent in mobile sessions, coupled with a 64% increase in smartphone\u2019s share of ecommerce purchases in the past year, as evidence of the trend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Mobile\u2019s Pull Will Affect Other Landmark Shopping Days<\/strong> &#8211; Black Friday won\u2019t be the only victim of the \u201cevery day is a sales day\u201d potential of mobile commerce. in 2014, Google noted a shift of prominent search spikes for \u201cgifts and presents\u201d from Black Friday and Cyber Monday to a more steady interest throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Do These\u00a0Trends Mean for Your Ecommerce Sales:<\/strong> If you do not already have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/importance-of-mobile-website-optimization\/\">mobile-optimized site<\/a>, get one. If you are already mobile, optimize your site for loading speed and conversions. Start thinking about your digital marketing tactics, like email and paid advertising, in terms that might better suit smartphone shopping in micro-moments.<\/p>\n<p>Theses are just the trends predicted for this year. Who knows what trends will emerge. But the more you pay attention to them, the more you&#8217;ll be able to optimize for them and take advantage in the new year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 5<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>It doesn\u2019t matter now. Whether or not you\u2019re ready for Black Friday and the holiday sales season, it\u2019s upon us. If you\u2019ve been working all year to get ready for this year\u2019s blitz, the overall retail sales predictions are mostly favorable. And even the negative stuff isn\u2019t too bad. Inc.com quoted a Deloitte-authored sales forecast [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[443,444,254,69,445,295,276,245,311,101,90],"class_list":["post-5726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecommerce","tag-black-friday","tag-cyber-monday","tag-digital-marketing","tag-ecommerce","tag-ecommerce-trends","tag-google","tag-holiday-sales","tag-intermediate","tag-list","tag-mobile-commerce","tag-online-shopping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100611,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726\/revisions\/100611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}