What Your Business Should Know About the 2013 Changing Holiday Season Landscape and 10 Tips for Profiting From Those Changes. Jean L. Serio, CPC Social Media Marketing Growth Strategist www.getyourbuzzon.com

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What Your Business Should Know About the
2013 Changing Holiday Season Landscape and
10 Tips for Profiting From Those Changes. Jean
L. Serio, CPCSocial Media Marketing Growth
Strategistwww.getyourbuzzon.com
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U.S. Retail Ecommerce Sales To Grow 15
During the 2013 Holiday Season.
National Retail Federation
Says In-Store Sales Up 3-5.

• Trend monitoring firm eMarketer revised its
  holiday sales projections upwards. Reporting it
  now expects "2013 U.S. retail ecommerce holiday
  season sales to grow about 15.1 percent to 61.8
  billion, up from 53.7 billion in 2012".
• Ecommerce platform provider Volusion predicts
  global retail ecommerce sales, for small and
  mid-sized businesses, will grow about 20.
• Shop.org, National Retail Federations digital
  division, expects online sales to grow between
  9-12.
• Adobe Digital Index stats show "Thanksgiving is
  the fastest-growing shopping day, and that's the
  biggest news this year.
• Bad NewsCompanies aren't prepared for the
  new ways in which shoppers will be buying.

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5 Changes to Expect This Holiday
Season

• 1. 16 of U.S. Online Sales Will Come From
  Mobile Devices - Multi (Omni) Channel
  Shopping Mobile sales will reach 9.8 billion
  from Nov to Dec. 2013. A 16 share of the
  ecommerce market, says eMarketer.
  Tablet sales
  totaling 26 billion
  predicted. 62.5 of
  all mobile-based
  ecommerce sales topping 87.
  Google Shopper Marketing Agency Council 4/13
  figures show how consumers are using mobile
  devices to shop Shoppers who use mobile to
  shop buy more. 44 of SmartPhone shoppers use
  their phone to find promos, discounts and
  offers. 84 of SmartPhone shoppers use their
  phone to shop in- store.

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2. Don't wait for Black
Friday to market - Consumers
intend to spend less on the BF
and the Cyber Monday
weekend.

• Customer Satisfaction group CfI, in a new 2013
  Holiday Retail Spending Report found "fewer than
  25 of consumers plan to spend more than 1/2 of
  their total holiday budgets during the Black
  Friday/Cyber Monday period. 61 saying
  they'll finish shopping by early
  December.Three-quarters of Canadians, recently
  polled by Deloitte Canada Ernst and Young
  Canada, say "they plan to start their holiday
  shopping early this year, and will use the
  internet to check and compare prices before
  buying gifts". Says Sheri Petras, CEO of CFI
  Group, "since behavior is shifting, beyond
  traditional Black Friday spending, those who
  focus solely on BF centric campaigns will miss
  significant sales opportunities". Deloitte and
  Ernst Young Canada, found shoppers expect to
  modestly increase holiday spending 2 to 3.5.

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3. Amazon and Walmart started Cyber Deals
Week

• Deals.com says many large retailers,
  including Target and Toys R Us, intend to go
  along with the Cyber Deals Week also called
  National Deals Week. Adding new deals daily or
  several times a day. While this should be
  good for retailers, unless commerce companies
  plan ahead, sales can be lost. With 6
  less selling days this holiday season,
  marketers are preparing higher impact
  marketing on available days. As of 2010, Cyber
  Monday is celebrated globally with ecommerce
  sites, the world over, offering deals.

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4. Price Will Matter
Even More
This Holiday
Season

• 
  From all reports, the 2013 season will generally
  be
  positive. But
  eMarketer, Deal News and others show
  
  consumers planning to purchase based upon price.
  
  A July 2013 Google Consumer Survey found
  
  consumers aren't loyal to brands when it comes
  to
  shopping for gifts. 40 surveyed said they
  
  (specifically) looked for the 'best price'.
  
  Finding the best price is far easier. Making
  
  competition stiff. Consumers can check price
  
  comparison sites like Amazon, Google Shopper,
  
  Newegg and PriceGrabber, for instance.
  Google
  Insights says As our data shows, price is
  the
  main reason for shopping somewhere new,
  followed
  by better selection.
  Says market researcher,
  Marshal Cohn, "Frugality is
  still a big part of
  the consumer's lifestyle."

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5. Consumers Expect
Free Shipping

• 
  
  Google Insights Info "The term free shipping
  surged
  last year as a search query, peaking on
  Cyber Monday. On
  mobile devices, it peaked on
  Black Friday, as in-store
  customers looked around
  for comparable deals online. One in
  five say free shipping will be the deciding
  factor on purchases this year, so use it to your
  advantage on the big in-store shopping days".
• Shop.org A recent poll of retailers says
  "35 offer free shipping all year, the majority
  do not. Of retailers not offering free shipping
  year-round, 16.3 said they would begin the last
  week in October".
• MarketLive.com study found 91 of online
  shoppers said they'd take advantage of free
  shipping offers. "Online shoppers have become
  quite savvy" says Ken Burke chairman of
  MarketLive. "They have come to expect free
  shipping. Importantly, 31 said free shipping
  is an incentive that would prompt paying full
  price for an order. MarketLive discovered 88
  of online shoppers have abandoned a shopping cart
  in 2013, primarily because of shipping costs. 54
  abandoned carts after shipping costs made their
  total order more than anticipated.

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Are You Targeting
Different People at Different
Times Loyal, Steady, Flash
Customers?

• First - its essential to know your audience.
  When you do, the holiday season becomes
• one of the best times to develop new, loyal
  customers. That said, according to a recent
• nanigans.com report
• "Customers acquired the week before Thanksgiving
  and Christmas consistently yielded
• high return, both short-term long-term, while
  those who shopped right around the
• holidays tended to be last-minute rush shoppers
  If you are seeking a bigger fish, set an
• enticing bait and wait alternatively, if you see
  high volumes of smaller fish as your
• target, set lots of small bait but be prepared to
  act quickly.
• Loyal customers These customers performed
  consistently well even after six months and
  responded to ads placed in mid-November.
• Steady shoppers these customers brought in
  higher revenue after one month of viewing the ad
  and responded to ads placed in late October and
  early November.
• 3. Flash shoppers these customers reacted
  quickly to an ad and made purchases within one
  month but barely came back again or were easily
  distracted by other campaigns within a half-year
  period. They responded to ads displayed in late
  November and early December.
• Note Info from 2012 Q4 nanigans.com ecommerce
  report

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10 Tips for Profiting
This Holiday Season

• 1. Add holiday décor to your Website, Blog,
  Facebook and Fan Page. Adding seasonal and
  holiday graphics to your website, blog and social
  sites gives an extra boost in holiday spirit and
  can stimulate sales. Adding holiday themed
  graphics can have multiple benefits
• Letting fans/followers know your site is active
  and updated regularly
• Reminding your audience the holiday is near and
  it's time to think about gift giving
• Making the association your site is the go-to
  place for holiday gifts
• Gets customers into the holiday spirit

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2. Leverage Social Media
3. Organize Emailings

• Social Sites Cut through the noise by
  regularly engaging on social sites. Post about
  the holidays, respond to fan comments, add
  colorful photos/graphics to your comments. Send
  fans/followers to articles and resources on your
  site and blog. Post infographics. Share on
  Facebook, Twitter, Printerest, etc. Add a
  Facebook Fan page, add holiday graphics and
  offers.
• EmailingsRelationships matter even more so
  during the holiday season. Do regular holiday
  email marketing. Make sure your email marketing
  is well synchronized with your social holiday
  marketing. Create headlines which encourage
  email opens Use a holiday header. Have a
  good offering make it clear present
  product/service benefits. Offer discounts, free
  shipping. Use a social media widget (icon) to
  send them to your social networks. Be sure your
  offerings match on your social sites. Have a
  Call-To-Action Order today and Never send
  holiday emails on Friday (unless immediately
  before a holiday or day after Thanksgiving.
  

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4. Offer Free Shipping
5. Allow consumers to make
partial payments

• Free Shipping Aside from good pricing,
  consumers are looking for Free Shipping. A
  MarketLive.com study found 91 of online shoppers
  said they'd take advantage of free shipping
  offers. "Online shoppers have become quite savvy"
  says Ken Burke chairman of MarketLive. "They have
  come to expect free shipping. Importantly, 31
  percent said free shipping is an incentive that
  would prompt them to pay full price for an order.
  
• Partial PaymentsBig Box retailers primarily
  use a lay-away system during the holidays. Its
  one of the top ways they create additional sales.
  However if you are selling products which consist
  of services, ebooks and consulting products,
  consider offering to divide payments into two or
  three smaller amounts. And watch sales rise.

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6.
Present UpSells 7.
Offer Bonuses for
Purchase or a Free Gift

• UpSellsPresenting an additional related
  product, or one which coordinates with the
  original product purchased, can quickly help add
  cash to your till. Statistics show once people
  are in the purchase mode, its much easierto
  upsell them to an additional product while in the
  process of purchasing an original item. Easier
  than at a later date.
• Bonuses Offering a
  bonuses, or series of bonuses which relate
  to the product or add to
  the value of the product, is
  also a great way to increase sales.
• Free Gift with Purchase Free Gifts with
  purchase are a great way to stimulate sales.
  Something 90 of consumers will take you up on.

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8. Optimize your Website
for
Holiday Shoppers
Add a Gifts Section
9. Offer a Buy 1 Get 1

• Consider placing a Gifts sectionTo your
  website and/or blog. This allows shoppers to find
  what they want fast. Add a holiday graphic at the
  top of the list/s to bring attention to the area.
  Place a link on the Home page of your site to
  the page. Or create a small box with holiday
  graphics and a link to the proper page on your
  site.
• Sort products by type, price, offering a
  bestsellers list, be sure to list Bonuses
  included. Dont forget to add a link on your
  Facebook page to the Gifts section.
• Buy 1 Get 1
  
  This is a strategy used by a wide
  variety of companies
  from entrepreneurial
  to large. Not only does it
  
  encourage a
  customer to purchase, stats show they
  
  will purchase much
  more than first planned.
  
  And will often purchase products
  they hadnt
  planned to.
  

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10. Encourage Self Gifting
Have a Didnt Get What You
Wanted Promotion After
Christmas.

• Many are in the market for things they dont
  usually buy. Have a Didnt Get What You Wanted?
  Promotion after Christmas through New Years. Many
  people receive money for Christmas. And usually
  want to spend it quickly. Re-state your earlier
  offer, add a new bonus or freebie.
• Fifty percent of consumers did at least some
  self-gifting over the 2012 holidays and the
  gifts were good. Self-gifters spent an average of
  139.92 according to ExactTargets Email
  Marketing Holiday Calendar infographic. Create a
  new or modied offer. Add a new resource, bonus or
  free gift. Offer free shipping. And a price
  guarantee.

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A Few Last Tips.

• Not to alarm last-minute marketers, but the
  holiday promotions party has already started. The
  National Retail Federation says 40 percent of
  shoppers began picking gifts out before
  Halloween.
• Regarding Email Marketing Listrak's recent
  report shows the average online retailer mailed
  5.3 emails between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
  Dont wait a minute more, organize your emails
  now so theyre ready to go out on the
  Thanksgiving weekend.
• "They're all racing to get an existing piece of
  the pie," says Patricia Norins, an adviser to
  American Express' "Small Business Saturday," a
  holiday shopping event. "There's only so much of
  the pie that is going to be served," so retailers
  want to "get out of the gate as soon as possible
  and get in front of consumers and capture their
  piece of the pie."
• Remember cross marketing Use mobile and tablet
  marketing along with social media marketing.

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Get Your Complete Holiday Business and
Step-by-Step Marketing Guide for Making the
2013 Season Festive, Fun and Easy for
Customers to Buy and your Best Business
Season Ever

• To reap great rewards, from this season, you
  must Start Now preparing for it. Since 'time is
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• 61 Zero-Cost Strategies for Levering Top Social
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• 4 Holiday Celebration Newsletters Beautiful,
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• 30 Holiday Graphics Colorful, professional
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• 20 Delicious Easy-Bake Holiday Cookie Recipes
  including dozens of helpful baking tips
• More Info www.getyourbuzzon.com Holiday
  Marketing Biz Bundle link on top nav bar.