A look back at the busiest holiday shopping weekend
Regardless of whether a retailer is placing a bigger stake in ecommerce or traditional physical sales, Thanksgiving weekend represents the most important days of the year in this industry. Businesses spent exorbitantly to ensure that they were enjoying the highest potential revenue mark during Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, and it appears as though the group as a whole did an exceptional job in preparing themselves for the heavy foot traffic.
With these major shopping events coming to a close and the retail sector now looking forward to the new year, it might be helpful to take a look back and see just how successful firms in the industry were through digital platforms. Many experts predicted mobile and online transactions to take up a larger share of total revenues this holiday shopping season, and they were mostly right when looking at the data currently available.
Big results
Predictive analytics provider Custora recently released the results of its study on revenues from this past Cyber Monday, affirming that 2014's iteration of the event yielded to strongest purchase volumes in history. The analysts went so far as to say that Cyber Monday was the single most advantageous day in digital retail history, while digital sales were also relatively strong on Black Friday to boot.
According to the report, revenues garnered through ecommerce platforms increased 15.4 percent this year compared to last, while the full holiday weekend saw significant increases, with Black Friday's digital sales rising an unprecedented 20.6 percent compared to last year.
More shoppers took to the World Wide Web on Thanksgiving day itself, as Custora recorded a 17.7 percent increase between 2013 and 2014 in ecommerce purchases. The firm identified other interesting details that emerged from the weekend, including the fact that nearly one-third of digital purchases made on Black Friday originated from mobile devices, while this same rate was at 22.5 percent last year.
The frequency of mobile-based transactions on Cyber Monday expanded from 15.9 percent in 2013 to 21.9 percent this year, further indicating that the average consumer is becoming more comfortable with this payment and shopping method. As the best way to use these results is to put them into action this time in 2015, retailers might want to also take note of the fact that email marketing campaigns and Google searches were the biggest catalysts for purchases this year.
A look ahead
It is never too early to begin planning for the holiday shopping season, but this might be the best time to engage in reflective research regarding the performance of the retail establishment during this years' busiest days. Identifying which investments and methods worked to the advantage of the company and which did not, as well as how certain procedures could be adjusted for stronger brand images and enhanced financial performances, will set the firm up for success in the new year.
By starting and building quality relationships with consumers, retailers will be better positioned to excel over time.
