MarketLive Survey Says: Consumers to Spend More and Buy More Online this Year

MarketLive 3rd Annual Holiday Shopping Survey Indicates Consumers Will Buy More Gifts and Spend More Money Online This Year

While the economy may still be in somewhat of a recessive mode, there appears to be a glimmer of hope on the immediate horizon. MarketLive, Incorporated, the leading provider of enterprise-class eCommerce technology and services, today announced that its 2011 Holiday Shopper Survey shows that consumers plan to increase their holiday gift purchases from Internet retailers and provides key information that retailers can use to reach those shoppers effectively.

MarketLive has commissioned the report on holiday shopping plans, conducted by the e-tailing Group, for the last three years. The report examines consumer preferences and shopping behavior and offers retailers effective strategies for reaching holiday shoppers, winning them over and maximizing return on investment.

The report is based on an extensive survey of over 1,000 consumers, their shopping behavior and intentions for the holiday season across a number of purchasing channels including mobile, social, traditional and online.  Additionally, a merchant survey that reveals record low inventory this year has been included. The low inventory levels will impact the sales cycle and make consumers wait longer for discounts

“Based on our survey results and interviewing our merchants,” said Ken Burke, Founder and Chairman of MarketLive, “due to the lower inventory levels this holiday season, consumers will not see the level of great bargains and super deals online that we have seen in past years.  Consumers are going to also wait it out this year so we expect sales to be soft in the early weeks of the season, making this a late holiday season for retailers.”

Key findings of this year’s survey, which was conducted in September, reveal that one in five shoppers plans to buy more of their gifts online this year than last year, when shoppers said they would do 44% of their overall holiday gift buying online. This year, one in four shoppers intends to do most or all of their shopping online.  And just as last year, 48% of shoppers plan to purchase between six and 15 gifts this year – but more of those shoppers are at the higher end of that range than was the case last year.

“This survey is important because it provides a very precise roadmap that retailers can use to maximize sales this holiday season,” said Ken Burke. “It provides a wealth of information – everything from how to execute the optimal discounting strategies, and determine the frequency of email blasts to the ideal way to utilize Facebook for merchandising and selling this holiday season.  With these keys, successful retailers can turn browsers into buyers.”

Online Holiday Spending Trends for 2011:

• Saving money jumped to the top of the list of reasons shoppers cited for buying gifts online, rising to 79% this year from 72% a year ago. It was followed closely by saving time, which was listed by 77% of shoppers this year and 78% last year.
• Nearly half of shoppers (48%) plan to spend between $300 and $800 on holiday gifts this year, compared with 46% who planned to do so a year ago.

The Key to Retail Strategies:  Value

“Consumers are cautious once again this year, but they are willing to spend online to save time and money,” said Lauren Freedman, President of the e-tailing group, which has nearly two decades of e-tailing experience.  “This holiday survey provides critical information that can help retailers make the most of the consumer mindset. Using this information to put customers first and merchandise creatively can set retailers on the right course for a successful holiday season – one that brings results at the bottom line.”

Retail promotions and merchandising strategies should be built to consider the following:

• Free shipping (83%) is the promotional feature most likely to influence shoppers to make a purchase – eBay is a primary example of this. More and more sellers have gone to a “Free Shipping” hook on their sales pages.
• One-third of respondents (32%) say they will pay full price for a “perfect” gift; that’s a sharp increase from 17% a year ago. Three in 10 — down from 38% a year ago – say they will do so for a hard-to-find product requested by a friend or family member. Sounds like shoppers have learned from past years that it’s better to give a gift that is wanted verses one that is a bargain.
• Shoppers prefer e-mails that offer free shipping (80%), sales and markdowns (79%), or coupons (73%), but percentages in all three categories were down from 2010. The lower numbers this year could correspond to email and deal fatigue.

While I am not quite as optimistic as the data suggests, it will certainly be interesting to see how this year plays out. I know for a fact that some huge brick and mortar retailers will be running “Black Friday” specials as early as 11/11. That tells me that competition has really heated up this year for that consumer dollar. Consumer electronics should bode well. Prices continue to drift lower on TVs, digital cameras, and computers. On one hand that’s excellent for consumers, however that does not help the bottom line of companies like Best Buy.

Stay tuned with us at Daily Deal Media as we keep you updated throughout this very important retail cycle.

About MarketLive:

Since 1995, MarketLive, Inc. has been the leading provider of enterprise-class eCommerce retail technology and services that help fast-growing companies successfully sell goods and services online. Designed to meet the unique requirements of catalogers, retailers, direct marketers, and manufacturers, the extensible MarketLive® eCommerce Suite and MarketLive’s best practices-based Intelligent Selling® methodology enable merchants to enhance their customers’ experience online while dramatically improving acquisition, conversion, and retention rates. The MarketLive platform is the most retail-targeted, fully featured, customizable eCommerce solution on the market today. MarketLive powers many successful retail eCommerce sites, including Armani, Neutrogena, Party City, Perricone MD, Sports Chalet, Sundance, Design within Reach, Helzberg, John Deere, Beach Body, Title Nine, Intermix and others.

About the e-tailing group:

The e-tailing group is a niche e-commerce consultancy that helps merchants deliver the right customer experience on their websites and across all of their channels while adeptly assisting technology companies to create and execute go-to-market strategies that simultaneously educate the retail community and deliver cost-effective thought leadership and lead generation.

Source: PRNewswire