Sunday, October 27, 2013

Holiday Shopping in the Digital Age.


It’s hard to even remember the time before “Cyber Monday”- the time when “Black Friday” was the only game in town and you had to bundle up to brave the cold, November temperatures to score the latest digital gadget or hottest new toy.  But now, we can comfortably sit in our pajamas, waiting for the digital channel to go live. 

Marketers are taking an aggressive approach to expanding the convenience associated with online shopping by allowing customers to purchase online and pick-up in the store.  This way customer can avoid the crowds, but still have access to their purchase without having to wait for delivery.  Target has rolled out this service to all of its retail outlets (where previously it had only been available in half). 

Target is also entering into the competitive TV advertising space to publicize the promotions available for Cyber Monday.  Target has produced over 20 commercials inspired by the hashtag #mykindofholiday to highlight the various ways in which people celebrate.  The campaign is fully integrated with the social media strategy to create a true omni-channel experience to the customer.  For example, Target will highlight 100 products in its stores that have been trending well on Pinterest and will allow people to pin images/videos from its online catalogs to a digital pinboard. 

While marketers have been emphasizing just this type of integrated, omni-channel experience, it will be interesting to see how marketers measure the success of such programs.  Is having a Pinterest driven approach to product selection a strategy that demonstrates measurable returns to the business? Surely savvy companies like Target, Walmart, and Amazon will quickly figure out what the value is and others will follow suit. 

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