Remember when holiday shopping meant a hectic journey to that commercial jungle we call the mall? You probably made a list (on paper), checked it twice, made a strategic mental note of where to park in order to work your way around the mall in optimal time, fueled up with some coffee (prayed you didn’t get trampled in Macy’s), and your mission was underway — outcome unknown.
Today, consumers do their homework, and shopping strategy extends far beyond where to park at the mall. In fact, depending on the devices used, deals found, and personal preference, a good percentage of shoppers won’t ever actually make it to the mall to purchase, while others will perform research online, but purchase in-store locally; meet the multi-channel shopper.
According to Wikipedia: “In the most simplistic term, multichannel marketing is all about choice. The objective of the companies doing the marketing is to make it easy for a consumer to buy from them in whatever way is most appropriate.”
With this in mind, the importance of marketing on multiple channels (in-store, on your website, via email or social media, in print, etc.) is undeniable. And if you’re ignoring digital aspects of your business during the holidays, you might not exist at all in the minds of your fervent, multitasking, ultra-connected holiday shoppers.
Google said it best: This holiday shopping season will be our most connected ever. And connected consumers expect a multichannel holiday shopping experience. As business owners and marketers, it’s up to us to give the people what they want, or other businesses will.
Don’t Believe Me? Let the Stats Speak for Themselves:
Mobile Is an Absolute Necessity.
- Over 84% of marketers use mobile-optimized websites to keep users happy. [Tweet this stat]
- In 2013, 52% of online smartphone users used their phones throughout the shopping process. [Tweet this stat]
Online Shopping Is (Still) Growing.
- Holiday shoppers are expected to spend $89 billion on gifts online alone in 2014. That’s up 13% from last year. [Tweet this stat]
- In 2013, 92% of holiday shoppers said they planned to research and/or purchase gifts online, so it would be wise to take advantage of your online piece of real estate whether you have an eCommerce store or not. [Tweet this stat]
Email Marketing Is a Holiday Marketing Superstar.
- That’s why 55% of brands use emails as their #1 holiday marketing channel. [Tweet this stat]
- Proving its effectiveness, 80% of online shoppers and 71% of in-store shoppers say email offers influence them to buy. [Tweet this stat]
Social Media = Word-of-mouth Advertising.
- 67% of consumers said they would be likely to share a digital coupon on Facebook during the holidays. [Tweet this stat]
- 63.4% of consumers said they would be likely to share a link to a holiday contest. [Tweet this stat]
My coworker Kathryn Wheeler (our talented in-house designer) compiled and designed the following infographic to visually highlight these and more of the most important multichannel holiday marketing stats. What do they mean for you?
