Shopping Blog

Keeping the lights on is a simple phrase, with simple meaning- make sure you leave the lights on so your customers can find you, or find your products- online. When- the week between Christmas and New Years- a week that could easily get left behind, but who would pass on a customer that has intent to research or buy during a week with plenty of time for web surfing, video viewing, social networking and walking into stores armed with their new mobile device or tablet?

Just think of the poor folks that have to work on Monday, December 26th- they will be online, researching and shopping. And if they're not working that day- they're heading out to redeem those gift cards online or in-store (or returning that hideous sweater from Aunt Suzie). Last year, Sunday, December 26th was the fifth largest eCommerce shopping day and ShopperTrak estimates it could be the 3rd largest day this year, since it falls on a Monday. If you're a numbers person, here are some of the stats behind what we see as great motivation to keep your Desktop Search, Display or Video advertising running next week (and of course your mSearch, mDisplay and mVideo campaigns)

• 55% of consumers shopped post holiday in 2010. 5% of them will do the MAJORITY of their shopping after Christmas (read: self-gifting)

• Monday, December 26th Retail traffic will surge by 60% since it's a public Holiday. (read: I have the day off and I'm going shopping)

• $27.8B in total expected gift card spending this season- they'll be redeeming them the week after Christmas (and 72% of consumers spent more than the card's value in 2010)

• Last year 13 days between December 26th and January 15th saw higher eCommerce sales than Black Friday (yes, you read that right)

• Don't underestimate January- last year saw total retail sales growth from January on par with December's y/y growth rate

A final suggestion around the 'Leave the lights on' strategy -- shift end-of-year markdown dollars across categories to upfront paid search to avoid deeper discounts in the New Year. Geo-target your campaigns to help the stores or distribution centers with excess inventory pick it up at the end of the year. The number of paid search advertisers tends to decrease during this timeframe making the inventory sell-through that much more economical.

So enjoy your Holiday over the next few days, but don't forget to 'leave the lights on' for your customers the week between Christmas and New Years. If you don't, someone else might...!

Posted by Jay Bowden, The Google Retail Team

Now that the final days of summer have come to an end, retailers are in the thick of planning for the busy holiday shopping season. As you start to plan your campaigns, it's important to take a step back and look at how consumers are using their mobile and tablet devices to drive in-store and on-device purchases. Here are a few insights that may surprise you:

• We project that this year 15% of total “Black Friday” searches will be from mobile devices based on historical growth rates

• Many advertisers do not realize that mobile users actively search for last minute holiday gifts and to locate stores to purchase these last minute gifts. In fact, we project that 44% of total searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms will be from mobile devices this holiday season based on historical growth rates

• In fact, looking back on the past two holiday seasons, we see a “double peak” in search volumes for retail brands around first Black Friday and then the week before Christmas as mobile users locate stores for last minute shopping. These shoppers may have missed the deadline for free shipping and are motivated to locate and shop at brick and mortar locations. Here is the data from the holiday season in 2009 & 2010 showing this double peak: 

• The important thing to keep in mind is that these mobile searches drive in-store purchases: 65% of high end device users report that they have used their device to find a business, and then made a purchase at that business in person according our holiday retail survey of users in the AdMob network

• Retailers should be sure to plan for the tablet audience when it comes to driving on-device conversions. Ebay has stated that tablet users spend 50% more than PC users, have higher AOV, and have higher or equivalent conversion rates

• According to our survey, greater than 33% of both smartphone users and tablet users plan to start their shopping before Thanksgiving, so smart marketers will start their campaigns early this year to reach these consumers 

 
Whether your goals are branding or direct response, Google Mobile Ads can help you with strategies to reach and engage your target audience and drive customers to convert on tablets, on mobile devices, and in your stores. Contact your Google Mobile Ads sales representative to learn more.

Posted by Google Mobile Ads Marketing

Ah, alas! February 14th: That special day of the year when love is in the air, Cupid is on the loose and men around the country are searching to find their romantic side - Valentine’s Day. Well gentlemen, the big night has finally arrived and whether you’ve been preparing for months or just noticed that big heart around the 14th on your girlfriend’s calendar (hint!), planning the perfect Valentine’s Day is right at your fingertips – literally!





That tiny cell phone in your hand is the gateway to the world and to your little lady’s heart. Mobile devices have changed the way we live, work, and play. Over 122M people in the US are now smartphone users who have access to information instantly & everywhere.*

For the sake of our Valentine’s example, let’s call our little lovebirds Shannon and Matt. Matt has been quite the busy bee lately, traveling around the country for work. So when Valentine’s Day arrives he panics. However, thanks to his smartphone, within 15 minutes Matt is able to find the number of a local florist along with a 10% discount ad, research reviews on the best Italian restaurants in the city, make reservations, and map directions to the location from Shannon’s house. This last-minute effort has turned into a picture perfect night for the couple and for the mobile advertisers – the ultimate love triangle!

Mobile searches tend to peak on weekends when people are on-the-go and away from their computers. Advertisers with mobile specific targeting have an even greater advantage this Valentine’s Day as it occurs on a Monday, so they’ll have the benefit of capturing optimal weekend traffic.

Valentine’s Day shopping typically begins three weeks prior to the holiday. However, flower & gift online traffic shares continue to rise due to last-minute shoppers – so advertisers, be sure to keep your campaigns running through February 14th!

Whether you’re cuddling over a candlelight dinner (made from a recipe found on your mobile phone, of course!), popping the question - or maybe just a bottle of champagne - this Valentine’s Day is bound to be a success with your lady and your mobile phone nearby.

*comScore 2010 US Digital Year in Review Report


Posted by Terra Teague, The Google Retail Team

Although many men and women live by the Boy Scout motto of “be prepared” when it comes to Valentine’s Day gift giving, some have adopted a different philosophy… wait until the last minute.

This Friday, millions of procrastinators will be buying gifts for their loved ones online to arrive in time for Valentine’s Day on Monday. For some retailers in the "Flowers, Gifts, and Greetings" categories, Friday is their second biggest sales day of the year (#1 is days leading up to Mother's Day). This means that potential last minute search assets for retailers will be highly generic terms such as “flowers” and “valentine’s gifts“. The top searches in the last seven days for the Flowers and Gift categories are listed below.



























Merchants looking to drive efficient sales volume tomorrow think and value at a geo-level. Monitor the search penetration against the conversion rates for particular cities and offer localized deals to consumers. For example, over the last seven days, Insights for Search indexed the highest search volume for flowers in Boston, with Philadelphia and San Diego following closely behind.














Don’t neglect in-store last minute purchasers who will be perusing the Internet for gift ideas, store locations, hours of operation, inventory selection and deals. Be prominently positioned with gift solutions both online and in-store to ease last minute purchase anxiety. Friday is only the beginning of the weekend warrior purchases prior to Valentine’s Day, so go ahead and let the procrastinators know it not too late to express their love.


Posted by Brett Goffin, The Google Retail Team

The shipping deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery is fast approaching for most retailers. But what’s a retailer to do after the deadline passes?

We have always encouraged retailers to "keep the lights on" throughout the entire holiday season -- as in, keep working hard to reach people at the moment of interest.

Don’t ignore the hordes of last minute shoppers just because it's not possible to ship to them by Christmas; instead, shift the focus from driving online conversions (online gift cards aside!) to helping interested shoppers locate and buy products from your stores.

This strategy is more relevant than many might think; despite yet another year of strong growth in web sales, many holiday purchase procrastinators will head to the malls for last-minute purchases. In December 2009, queries for “best buy store” and “target store” showed strong demand leading right up to Christmas and peaked on December 24.
















Drilling down on the types of information last minute shoppers might be looking for, Google Insights for Search further shows that queries for “best buy store hours” and “target store hours” were substantial during the week around Christmas.
















So what can you do?

Last minute shoppers are looking for store information...why not make it easier for these consumers to find what they're looking for? A few ideas to consider:

• Invite shoppers to visit their local store – Tweak creative messages to tell consumers to shop in-store and don’t forget to mention extended store hours if you have them.
• Turn on keywords you might not normally utilize – Turning on terms which include your company name and words like "store", "store hours" and "locations" may help to reach last-minute shoppers looking for information in short order. Google Insights for Search offers top searches and information on which regions/areas see the most demand for these types of queries.
• Add shortcuts on Sitelinks – For retailers employing Sitelinks, consider adding a link such as “Extended Store Hours & Directions” and send consumers to the store locator pages. This saves time for the consumer -- a valuable commodity for those with a long shopping list!
• Supplement with Mobile Search – Coremetrics reported that on Black Friday, 5.6% of shoppers logged on to a retailer’s website from a mobile device (a 26.7% jump from 2009). Set up a mobile campaign using the above mentioned keywords. People will be looking for this information whether they are at home or away, searching on a desktop or on a mobile device.

Posted by Charles Chin and Joe Cannella, Google Retail Team