According to survey
conducted by Deloitte, online shopping for is set to become the number one
choice for shoppers in the U.S. this holiday season (47% vs. department stores
that slipped 7 percentage points to second place). This year represents the first time in the
survey’s 15 year history that the “Internet” has been ranked as the preferred
shopping method over traditional brick-and-mortar stores (37% of respondents
still preferred the latter alternative, however). …Seriously?
What am I missing? …37% of
respondents still prefer to put their lives at risk to venture out in the wee
hours of the morning to save $50 on a flatscreen television, rather than order
it from home at the same price curled up on their sofa with a cup of hot
cocoa?
Deloitte’s survey also
found that this year “there was a strong link between the acceleration of
online shopping and rising smartphone use.” Nearly seven out of ten smartphone
owners are expected to use their phone for holiday shopping, with “finding
store locations” and “checking and comparing prices” being the top two uses.
While 45 percent of consumers said they will use social media to assist with
their holiday shopping. On that last
point, I’d probably have more appreciation for the fact if I had a better
understand of the details – what “social media” are the respondents referring
to? It seems that almost all “real” news
has evolved or is in the process of evolving into “social media.” Or, maybe the quality of today’s news reports
are written with such a poor command of the English language that all articles
and postings pass as “social media.”
Alas, I digress…
According to an
article published by the WSJ, over the last 6 years, e-commerce's share of
Black Friday weekend sales have doubled to 40%! (Yes, I’ll admit it – the statistic
actually impressed me.) So, you’d probably guess that brick-and-mortar stores might
do something “fresh and new” to try and re-capture their piece of share? No
way. It appears that management responsible for driving in-store sales at
companies simply rolled over and played dead…I’m serious! According to the article
above, the top tactic used to defend a loss in in-store sales was…drum roll,
please…ramping up in-store promotions!
Isn’t there a better way to drive marketing spend online and brick-and-mortar?
If some marketing *genius*
has already thought of my next suggestion, puhleease don’t let me off easy
here, but instead of Wal-Mart having people queue up to be the first to enter
the store to get the best deal, why don’t they send consumers on a “scavenger
hunt” of sorts? For example, wouldn’t it
be more *fun* to require the shopper to (i) “Like” the company on Facebook,
(ii) Tweet the their followers and the company to say they were involved in the
“scavenger hunt,” and (iii) …you get the point…before arriving at the store
with “proof” of their activities? Of
course, all of the hard work would result in the “first five people to complete
the challenge” walking away from the location with “[INSERT MOST PRIZED ITEM @
RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP PRICE].” I’d love to
know if such a campaign exists – it might actually get me to put down my hot
cocoa and tear myself away from my sofa to participate in the “scavenger hunt.”
Isn’t it true – everyone loves a good Easter egg hunt!?
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