As the results start to come in on the impact of Cyber Monday 2010 on the overall holiday sales numbers, it’s looking good. Early results indicate a 20% uptick over last year’s sales. This statistic, coupled with the fact that in-store sales over the Black Friday weekend were essentially flat versus 2009, really shines a light on the importance of enterprise e-commerce to overall retail sales.
It’s also interesting to consider today’s just-in-time consumer within this context. It’s spending time right now, and people seem to be hunting deals aggressively, especially in online retail. This just-in-time phenomenon at the level of the individual consumer is pretty interesting. Here are some telling survey results from Deloitte LLP and Harrison Group:
* Percentage who expect to continue spending cautiously even as the economy improves: 93%
* Percentage of shoppers who pay more attention to the size of packages they buy: 80%
* Percentage who feel smarter about the way they shop versus 2 years ago: 79%
While much of the appropriate response here needs to take place at the manufacturer level, retailers clearly play a huge role. Online, let’s give consumers options to compare products, earn discounts (such as free shipping), and generally dig into the product data. Or, if you have an extra $6 billion lying around, you could just buy Groupon.
The other noteworthy trend I wanted to mention briefly is that of mobile site usage. Admittedly, this one eludes me to some degree. For example, according to Gomez, 58% of consumers expect a user experience on their mobile device that is as good or better than their experience on their computers. Hmm. Of course, as the Beastie Boys underscored on Hello Nasty, it would be great to play basketball outside in the rain and not get wet. But I just don’t see that happening. Still, mobile is a force to be reckoned with, and the clock is ticking. According to Gomez, the top 5 mobile sites today in terms of sales are: 1. QVC, 2. New Egg, 3. Dell, 4. Williams Sonoma, and 5. Office Max. Really? QVC? I definitely have some learning to do, and I’m into it! Bring on the mobile revolution. (Appears to be a bit out-of-date, 3 stars, $19.00 on Amazon.)
