E-Commerce Express : holiday

Start Promoting: Holiday Guide for Merchants

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:20:00 GMT

The term “holiday” is defined as a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. For merchants, however, holidays tend to increase the workload and (hopefully) sales, because holidays typically give consumers more free time (and a reason...(read more)

Don't Forget Small Business Saturday

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:50:00 GMT

There is no doubt that as November approaches, retailers certainly have Black Friday and Cyber Monday top of mind. With that being said, they should also not forget about Small Business Saturday. American Express formed Small Business Saturday three years...(read more)

Say Hello to Facebook Monday

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:23:00 GMT

Some merchants are forgetting about Cyber Monday, and instead, are focusing their energy on “Facebook Monday.” This is because a new survey from social commerce solutions provider Payvment reveals that Facebook merchants are optimistic that...(read more)

Google Predicts a “Nonline” Holiday Shopping Season

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:16:00 GMT

As October is ending and November is quickly approaching, it is safe to say that retailers have one thing on their minds – the holidays. However, merchants should be aware that the 2012 holiday season is going to be different than years past, at...(read more)

Downtime the Focus of Holiday Prep

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:45:00 GMT

Have you started preparing your website for the holidays? If not, you may be a step behind of your competition. This is because a new study from cloud hosting company Rackspace reveals that 81 percent of e-commerce decision makers (CIOs, CTOs and IT chiefs...(read more)

Website Tips for Holiday Traffic Spikes

Allison Howen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Just because Cyber Monday is over, doesn’t mean that holiday website traffic is going to slow down.

And while this may be welcome news to retailers, it is important to make sure that websites are optimized for the holidays and can handle an increase in traffic. This is why content delivery network Mirror Image is sharing these valuable tips that will help retailers manage the traffic spikes that the holidays can bring.

Go Mobile – Mobile is a fast growing and profitable channel, so it is important to make sure your mobile site loads fast and works correctly – especially during the holidays. According to the National Retail Federation, 52.6 percent of smartphone users use their device to research products, redeem coupons and purchase holiday gifts and items.

Detect devices and optimize content – It is important to understand how content is being delivered and received on desktop and mobile devices. Images, ads and apps should be delivered based on the specific endpoint type.

Prepare for peak traffic times – Make sure that your site is monitored 24-7 and that resources are set in place to avoid latency problems and downtime.

Log ad data for future campaigns – Start preparing for future ad campaigns. It is important to know how many ads were viewed in entirety, how many ads were dropped before the end, how many ads were clicked on, what types of devices viewed the ads, when the content was viewed and from what geographic location.

The fun doesn't end on Cyber Monday – Cyber Monday is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, but there will likely be additional high-traffic spikes throughout the season, especially for last-minute shoppers. Continue to engage with consumers throughout the busy season, and leverage best practices such as geo-location mobile advertising, highly targeted online display advertising and real-time bidding to reach customers at optimal purchasing times.

Holiday Ecommerce Sales Off to a Great Start

Allison Howen — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:54:00 GMT

The holiday season is off to a great start in the ecommerce world, with a 14 percent rise in sales during the first 20 days of November compared to the same time last year.

A recent comScore report reveals that the beginning of the holiday season, which started on November 1st, has already brought in $9.7 billion in online sales. So far, November 16th has proven to be the most successful day of the season, which brought in $688 million alone.

“The 2011 online holiday shopping season has shown strength in the early going with a year-over-year growth rate of 14 percent,” says comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “With the persistent backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty and continued high unemployment, consumers appear to be increasingly favoring the online benefits of convenience and lower prices. Based on the expectation that these positive spending trends will continue for the season, this year promises to be a Merry Christmas indeed for online retailers.”

And although comScore has forecasted 2011 ecommerce sales in November and December to increase 15 percent from last year and reach $37.6 billion, merchants may want to prominently feature free shipping promotions on their sites. According to consumers that took a recent comScore survey, free shipping is so important that 46 percent of participants claim that they actively seek out free shipping deals, and 30 percent claim they won’t make an online purchase without it.

MarketLive Report Suggests a Promising Holiday Season

Website Magazine : ecommerce — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:00:00 GMT

E-commerce provider MarketLive has released a report that examines the third-quarter performance data from more than 100 retail sites, as well as provides tips for the upcoming holiday season. The MarketLive Performance Index Volume 16, Q3 2011 Update...(read more)