Saving Money, Saving Time, Locating Hard-to-Find Products Are the Top 3 Reasons People Buy Gifts Online
MarketLive recently released its “2011 Merchant Guide to Maximizing Holiday Sales: Vital Cross Channel Marketing and Merchandising Strategies You Can Execute Today” report. Among the many interesting tidbits included are the top 10 reasons why people buy gifts online, onsite and cross-channel gifting tactics, and how social networking channels should be used.
According to MarketLive, 56 percent of surveyed consumers said they see the current economic climate not affecting their overall holiday shopping this year, while 37 percent said they will be spending somewhat or significantly less than last year.
When rating the reasons they buy gifts online from 1-5 (“5” being the most important and “1” being the least important), 79 percent of the 1,021 respondents rated saving money with either a 5 or 4, followed by 77 percent who gave those ratings to saving time. Locating hard-to-find products (76 percent), avoiding the crowds at the mall (73 percent), shipping ease (73 percent), greater selection (73 percent), saving on gas by not driving to the store (61 percent), finding more personalized gifts (41 percent), the ability to purchase from a recipient’s pre-established wish list (37 percent), and online peer recommendation of reviews (34 percent) rounded out the top 10 reasons.
MarketLive also offered a rundown of its favorite tactics from last year’s holiday shopping season, “from onsite efforts to email offers that will ratchet up your gifting to impact performance and elevate customer experiences.” Here they are, along with some of the best practices noted by MarketLive:
– Engineer an exciting gift center (shop by price callouts, great deals noted)
– Suggest must-have gifts for everyone on your list (top 10 gift items, gift cards)
– Segment by shopper to help shoppers solve problems (links to key segments, 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed)
– Elevate wish lists to “must do” customer functionality
– Spell out your value proposition (free samples, easy returns)
– Highlight cross-channel conveniences
– Inform shoppers of delivery timelines
– Transform customer service centers into selling destinations
The report found that 37 percent of respondents said they will not pay full prices for gifts this holiday, season, while 32 percent would pay full price for gifts this holiday season for something that is perfect for someone on their list. Thirty percent said they would pay full price for hard-to-find products that a friend or family member requested, while 28 percent said they would pay full price for items that never go on sale.
MarketLive also found that 39 percent of respondents said the ideal frequency with which they would like to receive opt-in emails from retailers is weekly, while 18 percent said twice a month and 13 percent said monthly. An additional 13 percent said 2-6 times per week. Only 8 percent said daily.
The report highlighted that 33 percent of respondents said a free shipping offer would influence them to complete a purchase on a social networking site this holiday season, followed by 29 percent who said an exclusive discount, 24 percent who said a daily deal and 23 percent who said access to an exclusive product.
Among the last-minute holiday reflections listed by MarketLive are to ensure your site is comprehensive to support researching dynamics, review all promotional elements and test social marketing initiatives.
Source:
http://www.marketlive.com/_pdfs/11/marketlive-whitepaper-holiday-guide.pdf
