Shopping Blog

The decorations, the family get-togethers, the ugly sweaters — these are the unmistakable signs that the holiday season is in full swing. But no December would be complete without the final mad-dash to buy gifts for loved ones on your list. And if you’re like me, you may have a gift or two (or ten) left to buy at the last minute.

No sweat — you aren’t alone. While people started searching on Google for gifts in mid-October, holiday shopping is far from finished. More than 60% of people are still shopping for gift ideas post-Cyber Monday (Google/Ipsos study), and as of yesterday, shoppers have 37% of their purchases to complete.

To help last-minute shopping procrastinators tick the remaining gifts off their lists, retailers have made it easy by crowning December 17 as “Free Shipping day” - or as we call it, Oh Ship! Day. We’re making it easier to find retailers that offer free shipping by allowing you to sort by items that have free shipping or are in-stock in stores nearby on Google Shopping. And retailers can also drive more last minute sales by promoting their free shipping offers across their online marketing campaigns, from search, display and video.

Here are a few more insights about shopping and shipping trends:

Free Shipping drives purchase decisions
Free shipping can be a dealbreaker for many holiday shoppers. We found that if a site didn’t offer free shipping, 47% of shoppers would find the item on a different site that did, 32% of shoppers would go to a nearby store, and only 20% would buy the product from the site anyway.

Many people search specifically for sites that offer free shipping. Searches on Google for “free shipping” are up 58% in the past month, and peaked on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Last year, searches on Google for “free shipping” spiked 33% on Free Shipping Day. Savvy retailers who are participating in Free Shipping day can make the most out of it by promoting their shipping offers online.

Multiscreen mavens
Gadgets are always high on people’s holiday lists, and 2012 is no different. In fact, we found that 43% of people shopping for electronics are shopping for themselves (Google Consumer Surveys).

But smartphones, laptops, and tablets aren’t just at the top of the tech wish list, people are using these devices to shop across multiple screens more than ever before. 83% of both smartphone and tablet owners have used their devices for some portion of the shopping process post-Cyber Monday (Google/Ipsos study).

There’s still time left, but an important deadline is on the horizon - December 17 is also the last day you can send packages via FedEx Ground guaranteed for a arrival by Christmas. For more insights on holiday shopping trends check out our Google Consumer Surveys Holiday site.

Posted by Eva Barbier, Retail and Technology Team, Google

The manner of giving matters more than what is given. --Pierre Corneille

Americans are about to enter the winter holiday season. Gift-giving defines some of the central themes of this annual period of festivals and celebrations. Through the power of search engines, social media discussions, and mobile devices, Americans have become accustomed to being able to search for--and successfully find--the most specific, personalized gifts for friends and loved ones. Anything from poetry-inscribed sculpture to steampunk lighting to monthly organic coffee subscriptions to crazy socks are only a few mouse clicks and shipping days away.

However, finding the perfect gift is only one part of the art of the present. Presents are exactly that--something we present. As Corneille and others have argued, the greater part of the art of the present is not the content itself, but its presentation. Good presentation cannot make up for a thoughtless present. Yet, the thoughtfulness of a good present can be easily lost through poor presentation.

Some cultural narratives of presentation are shared in a public way--consider the tradition of boxes wrapped in decorative paper under an indoor, ornamented fir tree practiced by lots of Americans. Other narratives develop personally between friends, family, and loved ones. For example, one of my aunts always includes seasonal confetti in her cards. I know to expect a cascade of glittering small balloons or hearts or four-leaf clover bits and pieces whenever I get a card from Aunt Jackie.

Presentation--and our public and private rituals of presentation--magnify the meaning of a gift. While presentation may seem like an afterthought, the seemingly extraneous papers, bows, notes, and envelopes serve an important function. Thoughtful presentation honors the actual content by highlighting the voluntary generosity that is the essence of a present--an object freely and joyfully given to another.

As more and more Americans shop online, the demand for personalized and creative presentation reiterates itself in new forms. Retailers in the online space need to recognize the importance not just of connecting consumers with the right present, but also providing robust options for presenting the gift. Likewise, in a rapidly changing marketing landscape, retailers need to connect with consumers not just while searching. With the rise of mobile devices and the convergence of online and offline spaces, retailers need to meet them while they browse the entire web--through display strategy--and while shopping in brick-and-mortar--via mobile advertising.

Creative solutions are springing up all over the web. Consider GroupCard -- a service that allows groups of people to sign a card and send it to someone digitally or to print the card. Gift certificates can also be attached, giving signers the option to contribute. These sorts of products point to the ever-accelerating convergence of online and offline spheres as well as bringing the power of new media technology to profoundly human situations--in this case, how to rally and communicate a message of support, condolence, or congratulations from a community to one of its members.

However, in an age when many of us live far from loved ones and in an economy that may make travel more expensive, the rituals around sent gifts--rather than those given face-to-face--also have great importance.

The option for free shipping catches the eye like few other calls to action. Americans have been demanding free with ever-increasing intensity over the past 7 years, something reflected in the sheer volume of search queries around this term we have seen on Google.com. The trend has accelerated after the start of the recession in 2008--and will remain important for the foreseeable future.

Beyond free shipping, there is much an online retailer can consider for the holiday season. For example, when we send a gift via FedEx or USPS, it tends to arrive in a box indistinguishable from a non-gift box. We want to communicate as rapidly as possible to the receiver that this is, indeed, a present. Just as in face-to-face presentation, we want the present to say not just “I bought this for you,” but “I thoughtfully found this for you and am thinking of you.” If possible, as a retailer, be sure to distinguish yourself with options for gift wrapping interior boxes, inclusion of notes or cards with customizable message, and other possibilities.

As we move toward the start of the 2011 holiday season, retailers should take stock not just of their inventory, but also the way they do (or do not) provide options for giving the consumer greater say in how a gift will be presented.

Google Image Search and Related Searches Results for “Presents,” September 2011

Posted by Paul Nauert, The Google Retail Team

The past ten years have brought surging growth in countless areas of technology and communication for US consumers: The number of personal computers, the number of mobile phones, accessibility to high speed Internet. However, there is one growing number whose rise has not generally been welcomed: the price of gas.

Since the early years of the past decade, gas prices have been rising in the US. Yet, as we move out of winter and into spring, another round of gas price increases again besets the US--at historically sharp rates. The week of February 28, 2011 marked the second greatest week-over-week leap in US gas prices since 1990.

At the start of this month, the national average price-at-the pump was currently around $3.39/gallon--a year-over-year increase of 27%, or $0.72. Looking ahead for the rest of the year, the US Department of Energy predicts an overall 2011 average price of $3.15/gallon. This represents a $0.37 year-over-year increase.

This latest uptick does not seem to show signs of slowing any time soon. The same DOE report forecasts prices climbing to a $3.30/gallon average in 2012, with a steady $0.05 average rise per gallon each year for the foreseeable future. There is a 10% probability that prices could “exceed $4.00 per gallon” in the summer of 2011. West Coast states should brace for even higher gallon averages during peak season, by as much as $0.25.

Rising gas prices have complex, difficult to predict outcomes. However, one nearly certain impact will be a shift in driving habits of many Americans--which will in turn impact their shopping habits and, thus, retailers. What should retailers look for, and how should they respond?

Romy Ribitzky, a writer at Portfolio.com, believes that there might be a silver lining to rising gas prices--at least for pure player retailers: “Gas prices put pressure on traditional bricks-and-mortars retailers that online ones don’t have to worry as much about.” The implication is clear: It could reinforce long-term cross-channel shifting of shopping and buying from the real world to the online world. Rising gas prices could also compound and accelerate growing trends of consumer savvy, with even more of the upper purchase funnel--research and browsing--occurring at home, rather than in stores. Conversely, when consumers do make the trip, they may be even more primed to buy once in the store.

For pure player retailers, this builds on a decade-long trend of increasing e-commerce activity. For retailers maintaining both a physical and virtual world presence, this calls for keeping an eye on upticks in traffic to their sites or other signs pointing to a gas-price-driven migration of consumers online--and to plan growth strategies and budgets accordingly.

Yet, many pure player retailers also have a major connection to gas prices: shipping costs. Ribitzky warns in the same article that “when oil prices rise, they take a profit-margin percentage out of the retailer’s equation” as shipping costs increases. This makes free shipping enticements a more expensive offer for the retailer. But, shipping is only the most obvious area of impact for gas prices.





With high gas prices here to stay--and, in all likelihood, rising for the foreseeable future--now is the time to reflect upon all the possible ways your business intersects with the real economy. Hyperlocal merchants may have an edge in locations within walking and biking distance. Acquiring retail locations near major public transit routes may matter more than ever. Travel could become more expensive for cars and planes, impacting retailers that depend on tourist seasonalities. At a big picture level, any marketing strategies should follow suit--engaging all the mobile and local advertising products possible.

Yet, there might be a flipside here as well. Local merchants may have to contend with other countervailing trends. Phil Wahba, a journalist with Reuters, reports that “the International Council of Shopping Centers expects February chain store sales to be up 2.5 percent to 3 percent.” Such a shift may hint at an increasing consumer trend toward packing as many purchases into as few trips as possible.

Regardless of size, retailers might consider ad creatives that appeal to the consumer’s desire to minimize fuel costs, with mentions of free shipping, or crafting ad campaigns around the cross-selling potentials of your store. If you sell bikes and helmets, inspire (or entice with special deals) buyers to save a trip and buy both your store. Increased fuel costs may key new segments of consumers into ecological awareness. With the rise of green marketing trends, this could mean new or greater traction for eco-friendly products.

As long as gas prices remain in flux and predictions are difficult even for the short term, many recommendations to retailers can seem contradictory. Every recommendation should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt--and, of course, due consideration of your business’ subvertical, region of the country, history, target audiences, and business model. However, this latest spike in gas prices reminds all retailers to comprehensively consider the impact of rising energy prices.


Posted by Paul Nauert, The Google Retail Team