In the past e-commerce and retailers performed different roles in the customer shopping journey. This holiday season these two worlds have converged. An increased attention on health and safety, along with monetary concerns, resulted in a shift in the way consumers spend their holiday budget.
This year online holiday shopping saw a 20% increase in online sales on Thanksgiving to hit $6.8 billion in the US, and a 27% growth to $30.4 billion worldwide, according to data from Salesforce.
Many retailers offered deals earlier than normal to alleviate the strain of providing a large amount of online orders at once when the pandemic put a strain on retailers’ and shipping companies’ fulfillment systems.
Data shows shoppers took advantage of early deals. Online sales grew 72% year over year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and grew 48% the next day on Wednesday, according to Salesforce data. Some of the most popular shopping categories were computers (marked down 30% on average), toys (20% discount), appliances (21%) and electronics (26%).
Additional retail trends to note from this year’s online holiday shopping season:
Retailers must focus on addressing customer service issues quickly, particularly with the increase in online shopping. Improvements to e-commerce or mobile capabilities, as well as curbside pickup and returns will help attract shoppers. Providing an optimized, seamless digital customer experience that will provide retailers with the advantage needed to be successful this holiday season.
Below are ten suggestions on ways you can use digital analytics to improve measurement of your online holiday ecommerce performance:
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