• A new survey by the National Retail Federation’s Shop.org suggests that “Cyber Monday,” the first Monday after Thanksgiving on which online holiday shopping traditionally has kicked into high gear, will be bigger than ever this year – with a lot of buying activity emanating from the workplace.
According to the survey, “Online retailers have good reason to focus on the office crowd, as the number of people who will shop online for holiday gifts from work is expected to surge to 61.0 million people this year, up from 51.7 million people last year” (and that) “more than half of consumers (50.7%) with Internet access at work plan to do some holiday shopping online from the office, up from 44.7 percent last year. Young adults with online access at work are the most likely to shop, with almost three-fourths (71.5%) of 18 24 year-olds and two-thirds (66.4%) of 25-34 year-olds planning to browse or buy online from the office this holiday season.”
• In recognition of expected online holiday shopping activity, a new website has been created – www.CyberMonday.com - that serves as a portal to some 400 retailers offering special deals tied to the holidays.
In the food area, the list of retailers includes Safeway.com and Peapod.com, as well as specialty retailers such as Starbucks.com, OmahaSteaks.com, HickoryFarms.com, and HarryandDavid.com.
• A new study by comScore Networks says that online non-travel retail spending for the third quarter of this year hit $23.1 billion, up 23 percent from the same period a year ago. Online travel spending was up at a slower rate, nine percent, to $18.2 billion.
According to the survey, “Online retailers have good reason to focus on the office crowd, as the number of people who will shop online for holiday gifts from work is expected to surge to 61.0 million people this year, up from 51.7 million people last year” (and that) “more than half of consumers (50.7%) with Internet access at work plan to do some holiday shopping online from the office, up from 44.7 percent last year. Young adults with online access at work are the most likely to shop, with almost three-fourths (71.5%) of 18 24 year-olds and two-thirds (66.4%) of 25-34 year-olds planning to browse or buy online from the office this holiday season.”
• In recognition of expected online holiday shopping activity, a new website has been created – www.CyberMonday.com - that serves as a portal to some 400 retailers offering special deals tied to the holidays.
In the food area, the list of retailers includes Safeway.com and Peapod.com, as well as specialty retailers such as Starbucks.com, OmahaSteaks.com, HickoryFarms.com, and HarryandDavid.com.
• A new study by comScore Networks says that online non-travel retail spending for the third quarter of this year hit $23.1 billion, up 23 percent from the same period a year ago. Online travel spending was up at a slower rate, nine percent, to $18.2 billion.
- KC's View:
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While we are going to try and avoid the Cyber Monday online traffic, we have to say that we’re going to do as much holiday shopping as humanly possible online. Clearly we’re not alone.
It is the retailers that are working progressively to gird for these kinds of cultural and commercial changes that will be the winners in the long term. And that doesn’t mean just creating a website and trying to sell stuff online. It means really, really trying to figure out how consumers are evolving…and be there to meet shoppers when they get there.
