With back to school shopping wrapping up, retailers are
starting to get in gear for the holidays.
Seems early? When you’re
trying to get the upper hand on your competition, it only makes sense. Malls are dying out and everyone is
grasping for the pieces of straw before the retail giants turn into fossils.
If you are like me, then you love to go to the mall just to
walk around out of the pure enjoyment of shopping. But with the economy in its current state, it is not the
frequent pleasure trip that it used to be for many. This is why retailers have turned to the web to drive sales.
This year more than ever, I believe you will see a huge
increase in digital advertising among retailers. It takes a matter of minutes to get into the minds of your
audience at an extremely cost-effective price. Sales are down for the week? Give consumers a reason to come in with an extra 15% off
their purchase. What’s even better
about this? You don’t even need to
print the coupon anymore; you can just show your Smartphone!
Though sales across the board were up in 2011 from 2010,
online sales touted a record-breaking 15% increase in November and December,
totaling 37.2 billion in revenue.
Why do I think this number is going to rise? Well, there are a few reasons. First, we all know the best advertising
is word of mouth. All I heard last
year was about how much money everyone saved online. Why the better discount online? For starters, it costs less money to run a website than it
does to run a store. It cuts down
overhead and payroll expenses.
This is why we see “web exclusive” deals. Retailers can offer discounted prices online compared to
what they would have to charge you in a retail location.
Though the price of the products is lower, there is actually
higher markup for retailers to sell their products online. Not only that, but they are no longer
limited to a geographic area. Reach
becomes virtually endless through online, mobile and tablet advertising, and
the cost per customer becomes much less.
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| Guest Blogger: Rich Kurisko |
The good news for shoppers — Black Friday lines should be
shorter for all the early-rising, thrill-seeking bargain hunters.
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