Web DMers Dreaming of a Green Christmas
CHRISTMAS MAY SEEM FAR off, but online direct marketers already are anticipating the season.
They hope to pull in 20% of their 2006 revenue during the holidays, according to a survey conducted by Forrester Research and Shop.org for WebTrends.
And it isn’t a small amount: The e-commerce total for the year is expected to top $200 billion.
Not that they’re doing much to ensure a green Christmas.
The number planning to offer free shipping, the most popular perk, has dropped from 62% last year to 45%. And the percentage of those fielding value-added promotions, like a free gift with shipping, slipped from 42% to 40%.
Even steady customers are being squeezed: Only 28% are extending special repeat-buyer discounts, down from 33% last year.
But there’s growth in one area: that of retailers intending to do absolutely nothing for their loyal customers. This number has more than doubled from last year to 23%.
The survey authors attribute this, in part, to higher confidence in the channel among online merchants — the result of solid margins and indications of sustainable growth.
Retailers also are pulling back on offering highlighted items and “idea centers” on their Web sites, according to the survey. The only features turning up near last year’s level are personalized promotions and customized product offerings.
They’re also doing less testing. As WebTrends noted, this reflects retailers’ desires to lock down their sites during the holiday season — a cautious “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.
But they are turning to e-mail, especially to handle demand-generation activity.
Conversely, retailers indicated they’ll do less traditional advertising, like broadcast and print, couponing and in-store promos.
And how will they measure their success?
Of those surveyed, 36% will rely primarily on activity metrics such as page and product views, visit duration or orders. Another 28% will use clickthroughs from the referring media, while 10% plan to focus on unique visits or deferred sales conversions.
The remainder won’t do any demand measurement.
Forrester Research and Shop.org polled more than 300 retail professionals in late June and early July.
