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Starting Wednesday, the e-commerce giant is offering deals on a variety of products, including toys, electronics, kitchen and home goods and video games. However, the company said many of its top deals will be offered during the "Turkey 5," which starts on Thanksgiving Day and runs through the Monday following the holiday -- known as Cyber Monday.
Samsung, LG and Sony TVs and is reducing some prices of Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price toys by as much as 50%.
The 2016 holiday season will be drawn out as shoppers start buying online early and continue shopping even after Christmas Day, according to Adobe Digital Insights’ “2016 Digital Insights Shopping Predictions” report, which was released today.
For example, 31% of U.S. consumers say they will start their holiday shopping before Nov. 1, up five percentage points from a year ago, according to Adobe’s survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers.
Come November, consumers are expected to shop online throughout the season. The report predicts that 57 of the 61 days in November and December will surpass $1 billion, including a streak of 53 consecutive $1 billion plus days. By comparison, the existing longest streak of consecutive $1 billion days occurred during last year’s holiday shopping season.
The report suggests that overall online holiday sales will grow 11.0% to $91.6 billion up from $82.5 billion last year. Just three days—Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday—will account for $8.4 billion, roughly 9.2% of those online sales, according to the Adobe study....
When it comes to digital smarts, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s and JC Penney rank at the Genius Level, according to the latest report from think tank L2. But while the industry as a whole is getting sharper, now spending 52% of digital ad budgets on mobile and maximizing customer engagement on Instagram, stores are still no match for the Amazon onslaught.
“Only five years ago, Macy’s apparel and accessories sales were five times that of Amazon, providing a wide lead in a logistically challenging product category that features a high exchange rate,” the new ranking says. “By next year, Wall Street analysts estimate that Amazon will overtake Macy’s as the largest U.S. retailer of apparel and accessories, with sales of $28 billion in the category.”
But Amazon isn’t the only problem. Department stores are also challenged by the fast-fashion wizardry of brands like H&M, Zara and Uniqlo, as well as companies like Coach and Michael Kors cutting back on department-store distribution. “With key partnerships that help differentiate the customer shopping experience under threat, the historical outperformance of department stores versus the S&P 500 has evaporated over the last 18 months,” it says....
As of the first quarter 2016, the total amount of retail spending online (ecommerce) was $92.8 billion, which was only 7.8% of all retail sales. Ecommerce is in its infancy, which means that there are huge opportunities ahead, not just for the types of Amazon, but for small merchants and startups as well.
Worldwide retail sales, including in-store and internet purchases, surpassed $22 trillion in 2015, up 5.6% from 2014, according to a study by eMarketer. They say that retail ecommerce sales, those purchased over the internet, will make up 7.4% of the total retail market worldwide, or $1.671 trillion. By 2019, that share will jump to $3.578 trillion, yet retail ecommerce will still only account for 12.8% of all retail purchases.
Even though the internet and technology is the source of major disruption for retailers, brick and mortar is alive and well for the foreseeable future.
The study says that retail ecommerce sales are accelerating faster than previously anticipated and will jump 25.1% year on year in 2015. "Online sales growth will outpace brick-and-mortar sales growth by a more than 3-to-1 margin over our forecast period," the report predicts....
Marketers spend a lot of time trying to nail down abstract concepts. They're tasked with turning brainstorming sessions and comments sourced during focus groups into campaigns that sum up everything about a brand's identity in a neat, tidy, and most importantly, interesting way.
But what if a consumer could walk into a room and fully experience your brand with all their senses? Pop-up events offer just that -- the chance for consumers to get up close and personal with their favorite companies in a truly immersive setting.
In their simplest form, pop-up events are temporary retail spaces that give companies the opportunity to sell their products in an environment completely designed and controlled by them. Since they're temporary, they offer a relatively low-cost and low-commitment way for companies to take creative risks, generate buzz, and introduce their brands to new audiences.
Consumers love the lure of exclusivity, and brands love the unmatched opportunity for experimentation. To inspire your next branded experience, we've curated a list of 15 innovative and visually stunning pop-up events....
In total, 2016 Prime Day was the biggest U.S. sales day ever, surpassing Cyber Monday 2015 by 19%, according to Slice Intelligence, which measures all digital commerce activity and customer loyalty. Slice also found that, on Prime Day, Amazon held 74% of the market share of all U.S. consumer ecommerce.
Sales totals aside, here are some significant takeaways from Prime Day pertaining to Amazon’s customer relationships: - By offering exclusive deals to members, Amazon continued to showcase the value and advantages of Amazon Prime. Membership continues to grow, from an estimated 75 million at the end of 2015 to 85 million now — with projections that it will reach 110 million by the end of 2016.
- The deepest discounts seemed to be for Amazon devices such as the Tap, Echo and Kindle Fire. Despite the low cost, the premium devices align consumers even more closely with Amazon and make it easier for them to shop and order – thereby facilitating future purchases with the online retailer.
- Prime Day also stimulated customer engagement through the Amazon app. Survey Monkey, which tracks mobile app usage, reported 12 million mobile users on Prime Day, a 50% increase from the 8 million users on an average day. Usage for the week went up 35% in all. Research further showed that 50% of Walmart app users also use the Amazon app — however, very few Amazon app users also use Walmart’s app, demonstrating Amazon’s dominance in the category.
- The opportunity to reach new customers outweighed the negative experiences of others. Some glitches were reported, such as problems with checkouts early in the day and complaints on social media that sale prices applied to a limited number of products. But the record number of new subscribers far surpassed the number of shoppers who were dissatisfied with the event. Ultimately, Amazon may view that as a worthwhile trade-off, banking on the recurring revenue from new customers who will spend more time on Prime and increase their lifetime value....
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Adobe Digital Insights predicts 2016 online sales will be up 11% and shoppers will be out earlier than ever. 55% of US and UK retailers say Amazon will drive the majority of their holiday sales this year according to research by ChannelAdvisor and Morar Consulting. The National Retail Federation expects US consumers to spend an average of $935.58 with overall holiday sales to rise 3.6% and online sales up 7% to 10%.
What’s Walmart’s holiday sales strategy? Value, price rollbacks and features, along with Santa’s helpers at checkout. UPS expects to be busy as well, shipping more than 700 million packages during the holidays, up 16.7% from 2015. Bestblackfriday.com, says Friday’s Black Friday sales may drop by 10% in-store to$9.2 billion though online sales may reach $3 billion, up 13%....
U.S. retail and food services sales were down 0.3 percent in August, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday, which was an unexpected drop. It’s also a metric that might make retailers nervous ahead of the critical holiday sales season (and no matter how retailers try to stretch it forward, we’re still not there yet), though one month’s data can, in the long run, be noise. Compared with the same month last year, retail sales are still up, turning in a gain of 1.9 percent. Only a few kinds of retailers gained any ground at all in August. Clothing store sales were up by 0.7 percent for the month, and electronics retailers eked out a gain of 0.1 percent. Grocery store sales were up 0.4 percent in August, and food services and drinking places enjoyed a 0.9 percent gain for the month. Remarkably, non-store (Internet) retail sales, which rarely see any kind of downtick in sales, were off 0.3 percent for the month. The two categories that did the worst in August—each down 1.4 percent for the month—were building material and garden equipment and supplies, along with sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores....
It’s no secret bricks and mortar retailers are struggling to maintain profitability and manage expenses for their retail stores. As the importance of omnichannel grows, who are the US retailers finding success with e-commerce? Today’s retail and e-commerce roundup answers that question. According to the US Department of Commerce, Q2 2016 e-commerce sales grew 16%. Walmart announced positive Q2 earnings and an 11.8% jump in its e-commerce business.Target had a strong first half 2016 with e-commerce sales for pickup in-store up 50%. While Perry Ellis online sales grew 35.6% in Q2, it also plans to close 15 US stores, 20% of its retail locations. Overall revenue decreased at Bon-Ton but sales on mobile devices were up 129% after enhancements to the mobile shopping site and simplifying its checkout for customers. Q2 2016 total sales for Nordstrom.com grew 9.4% to reach $683 million. Revenue was up 6.6% at Home Depot and it fulfilled 42% of online orders in-store. Staples saw online revenue grow to more than 50% of sales in its B2B e-commerce business....
Both current and former customers of the outdoor-clothing company Patagonia, for example, are more likely to consider themselves quite knowledgeable when compared to other shoppers, yet less equipped with social skills than the Lord & Taylor crowd. People who shop at Hot Topic, which caters to a younger, more alternative demographic, see themselves as highly imaginative, while patrons of Jos. A. Bank, which sells men's suits and business casual attire, see themselves as leaders.
Overall, these distinct personality types reveal the power of marketing, if done right.
One report anticipates that the retail industry alone will spend $15.09 billion on digital ads in 2016, followed by $16.95 billion in 2017 — a 12% increase. While it's important to know the best location to place an ad, knowing the personality of your intended audience is just as crucial....
Wal-Mart is in talks to acquire web retailer Jet, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources said the deal could be worth as much as $3 billion. Acquiring Jet could help Wal-Mart in its efforts to mount a serious threat to Amazon’s e-commerce supremacy. Its Walmart.com site offers about 11 million products, compared to about 260 million on Amazon, and attracted 88 million online visitors in February, compared to more than 1.7 billion for Amazon, according to comScore. Year-old Jet, led by Diapers.com founder Marc Lore, has drawn more than $500 million in financing capital from venture firms New Enterprise Associates and Accel Partners as well as mutual-fund company Fidelity Investments and bank Goldman Sachs Group. Dive Insight: Just a few days past Jet’s first birthday comes the bombshell news that Wal-Mart is closing in a deal to purchase the e-commerce upstart.
Late last month, CEO Lore told Fortune that Jet sold $90 million in merchandise in May, compared to $33 million in December, and scoffed at the notion that the company might never be profitable, citing the support of deep-pocketed (not to mention patient) investors....
Via Douglas G Hall
Impulse purchases could soon be a thing of the past thanks to the internet, as shoppers are more likely to consider a purchase over a short period of time than spontaneously click to buy.
Just 42% of purchases happen during the first hour of online shopping sessions, according to a new report from personalization platform Monetate.
Monetate analyzed data from the first quarter of 2016 and found that shoppers browse heavily during the workday – in fact, the biggest workplace distraction could well be shopping.
Desktops dominate during the day. Between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., desktop's share of page views never fell below 75 percent and peaked at 84 percent around 2 p.m. Outside of typical work hours, mobile devices account for 40 to 45 percent of page views during commuting hours, early mornings and late nights....
Via Douglas G Hall
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Ever wanted to see how Amazon packages are assembled and shipped? This CNN news clip shows how robots enable packaging and shipment with less than 60 seconds of human handling. Recommended viewing. 9/10