Riding The Wave Of Holiday Cheer On Cyber Monday
- By Jane Dawson
- Published 01/20/2011
- Online Shopping
- Unrated
The holidays are almost here and that is always good news for retailers, both street side and cyber side. For bricks and mortar stores, the holiday shopping season in the U.S. usually starts off with a big bang on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday. This rather ominous sounding moniker is not ominous at all, Black Friday means that retailers often find that this is the selling day that moves the financial report from red ink to black ink. Of course, during this economic downturn, it is hard to count on anything. In fact, 2008 Black Friday sales were barely greater than 2007 sales, according to Conmscore, a major Internet research group.
But what of the online side of the holiday rush? Unlike the bricks and mortar space, online retailers have come to count on CyberMonday. To the extent that the effect holds true, most U.S. shoppers are in the stores on the weekend after Thanksgiving then return to work the next Monday to purchase on line those things that they merely browsed over the weekend. Hence, Cyber Monday. And in fact, in 2008, which was a pretty sorry last quarter for most of the world in general, CyberMonday sales were fifteen percent higher than in 2007, an impressive jump, all things considered. However, it seems clear that shoppers browsed on the weekend to get an idea of what they wanted to buy then went online on Monday to get the best price for that item since average revenue was down almost five percent from
the year before.
Predictions for 2009 have been cautionary at best with many suggesting that there simply will not be a heavy buying season. Others, however, believe that there will be plenty of shoppers but they will once again be looking for a bargain.
As a small business owner, you will have to make some decisions about how to proceed this season. First of course, you need to be sure that you have your marketing in order so that people will find you online and give your products an opportunity to be seen. Second, you need to think about whether your products or service are sufficiently superior or hard to get that you can totally hold the line on pricing (Have you ever seen Nintendo DS go on sale in any credible way? Nope, not yet.) or if you will need to sacrifice some profit to move product and gain customers. Keep in mind that the loss of profit, while never a good thing, can more than easily be made up by customers who return and buy more from you or who buy additional products through cross selling. If you have good customer loyalty programs, it may well be worth a lower price to gain the volume and the repeat business.
If you are CyberMonday returns do not add up the way you would like, keep in mind that this concept is actually a bit overrated in the cyberworld. In fact, the Saturday before Christmas, December nineteenth this year, is actually the busiest shopping day online. So, set your pricing strategy, give customers wonderful service and be sure you have ways to keep purchasers attention for the rest of the year.
But what of the online side of the holiday rush? Unlike the bricks and mortar space, online retailers have come to count on CyberMonday. To the extent that the effect holds true, most U.S. shoppers are in the stores on the weekend after Thanksgiving then return to work the next Monday to purchase on line those things that they merely browsed over the weekend. Hence, Cyber Monday. And in fact, in 2008, which was a pretty sorry last quarter for most of the world in general, CyberMonday sales were fifteen percent higher than in 2007, an impressive jump, all things considered. However, it seems clear that shoppers browsed on the weekend to get an idea of what they wanted to buy then went online on Monday to get the best price for that item since average revenue was down almost five percent from
Predictions for 2009 have been cautionary at best with many suggesting that there simply will not be a heavy buying season. Others, however, believe that there will be plenty of shoppers but they will once again be looking for a bargain.
As a small business owner, you will have to make some decisions about how to proceed this season. First of course, you need to be sure that you have your marketing in order so that people will find you online and give your products an opportunity to be seen. Second, you need to think about whether your products or service are sufficiently superior or hard to get that you can totally hold the line on pricing (Have you ever seen Nintendo DS go on sale in any credible way? Nope, not yet.) or if you will need to sacrifice some profit to move product and gain customers. Keep in mind that the loss of profit, while never a good thing, can more than easily be made up by customers who return and buy more from you or who buy additional products through cross selling. If you have good customer loyalty programs, it may well be worth a lower price to gain the volume and the repeat business.
If you are CyberMonday returns do not add up the way you would like, keep in mind that this concept is actually a bit overrated in the cyberworld. In fact, the Saturday before Christmas, December nineteenth this year, is actually the busiest shopping day online. So, set your pricing strategy, give customers wonderful service and be sure you have ways to keep purchasers attention for the rest of the year.
Jane Dawson
If you are looking for wholesale suppliers visit UK wholesalers and find the one that fits in your requirement. Hurry Up!
View all articles by Jane Dawson