Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Accenture conducted an online survey of over 4,500 consumers in October 2015 across the United States, Canada and China. Overall, consumers are showing an increase in their spending expectations this holiday season, with 40 percent of US consumers planning to spend more on holiday shopping although they are still enticed by a good deal.

Sparked by ongoing optimism around consumers’ personal financial situations across each of the five markets, consumers remain enthusiastic about Holiday Shopping–both in-store and online, although the majority of shoppers would prefer the online option over physical stores where a retailer sells their product using both channels.

And despite increased instances of cybersecurity breaches across multiple industries in recent times, consumers are increasingly open to sharing personal information with retailers in order to receive personalized offers. Privacy and security concerns are the number one reason in all markets for consumers when shopping on a mobile phone, smartphone or tablet....

It was yet another great quarter in the world of US retail e-commerce. Revenue was up by 11.8 percent year over year, and transactions increased nearly the same amount (11.6 percent) over Q3 2014.

As the leaves begin to change color and the sun begins to set on 2015, let’s take a look at some of the trends leading the way into Q4 and this year’s holiday shopping season.

These finding below are based on the Custora E-Commerce Pulse, a free online dashboard tracking online transactions from more than 500 million shoppers, $100 billion in e-commerce revenue, and 200+ online retailers....

Targeting and acquiring today’s connected retail consumer has never been more challenging. Mobile commerce continues to rise, making it more difficult to build brand loyalty with a consumer who visits brick-and-mortar locations less frequently.

Consumers shop across more digital channels, continually price checking and looking at online reviews before making a decision. And consumers no longer pay attention to mass marketing messaging which have zero relevance.

The bottom line? Today’s on the go shoppers want more, are more empowered, and expect retailers to deliver in order to win their business....