The Associated Press reports that Americans spent $52.4 billion over the four-day Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, the highest total ever recorded during the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. It took Midnight store openings and heavy discounts to do it. And analysts predict that retailers will have to keep the discounts coming in order turn in a successful second half of the shopping season.
Americans Spend More than Ever During 4-Day Thanksgiving Weekend
Geography, Research, Trends, Forecasts, USA
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Dec 012011
Cyber Monday Was Biggest Online Shopping Day Ever with $1.25 Billion in Sales
Research, Trends, Forecasts
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Dec 012011
Not only was Cyber Monday the biggest ever online shopping day (and only the second day during which online sales exceeded $1 Billion), it also capped a very promising start to the Holiday shopping season. In the first 28 days of November, U.S. retail, e-commerce spending amounted to $15 billion, a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. What’s more, the day is following the script written for it by its creators almost to the letter. “Half of [the] dollars spent online at U.S. Web sites originated from work computers, up slightly from last year.” ComScore’s informative press release (link below) contains graphs depicting the positive trends in online sales this Holiday season to date. comScore Press Release Nov. 29, 2011
From the Good News Department — Private Sector Payrolls are Up
Research, Trends, Forecasts
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Nov 302011
The ADP National Employment Report, released today, revealed that private employers added 206,000 jobs this month, surpassing economists’ expectations by a whopping 50%. It was the biggest gain since December 2010. Reuters via The New York Times Nov. 30, 2011
Made Up by Marketers, Cyber Monday’s Sales Volume is Very Real
Distribution Channel, Research, Trends, Forecasts, Worldwide Web
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Nov 282011
Just six years old and made up by Shop.org as a way to jump-start Holiday shopping, Cyber Monday came into its own last year when — for the first time — it became the biggest online shopping day of the year by sales and the first day ever that online spending surpassed $1 billion.
This year promises to be even bigger, according to comScore (the research company that measures web use). Online jewelry merchant Blue Nile doesn’t expect today to be their biggest sales volume day of the year; that will likely be the last day for free shipping by Christmas. But Mark Vadon, Blue Nile’s chairman, explains that — in addition to a sales jolt — the day gives marketers insights they can exploit for the rest of the Holiday shopping season. “It is the first time online retailers get substantial data on which products are most popular, where they will need more inventory and where they should offer promotions.” The New York Times Nov. 28, 2011
Black Friday and Weekend Mark Big Start to Holiday Shopping Season
Research, Trends, Forecasts
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Nov 282011
The National Retail Federation reported Sunday that Thanksgiving-weekend spending per shopper surged 9.1 percent over last year to an average of almost $400 a customer. And there was an 6.6 percent increase in shoppers to boot. The NRF also reported that approximately 35 percent of the $52.4 Billion in total spending from Thursday to Sunday was spent online … up slightly from last year. Full details in this New York Times story from yesterday.
The pace of sales did slow over the course of the weekend and credit card use was up versus last year. So, take from that what you will. Perhaps shoppers will pull in the reigns later in the season, or perhaps they really need Christmas this year and will dip into savings or take on an additional measure of debt to pay for it. In any event, the photo below captures some of the excitement our bricks-and-mortar brethren enjoy at this time of year.
An Ohio Sears Store on Friday Morning (photo courtesy of The New York Times)
China May Overtake U.S. in Online Sales within Next Four Years
Distribution Channel, Geography, International, Research, Trends, Forecasts, Worldwide Web
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Nov 222011
According to Boston Consulting Group, e-commerce sales in China almost quadrupled between 2008 and 2010 to 476 billion yuan, as 23 percent of the country’s urban population shopped online last year, the consulting firm said in a report released yesterday. The report states that, “China’s massive geography hampers the effectiveness of physical retailing,” and that the country enjoys a low cost of shipping (roughly $1 on average to ship a 1-kilogram parcel, versus $6 in the U.S.) Those facts should suggest an opportunity for companies that specialize in virtually every kind of non-brick-and-mortar retailing, you know like HSN and QVC.
All of this leads one to wonder, why haven’t the U.S.-based shopping networks entered the Chinese market yet? Yes, Liberty Interactive said that they would look into such an expansion in the coming year. And yes, we know that finding the requisite Chinese partner company is a costly, cumbersome pain. But, come on, already! Bloomberg News Nov. 21, 2011
Black Thursday (Evening) is the New Black Friday
Bricks-and-Mortar, Distribution Channel, Research, Trends, Forecasts
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Nov 212011
Although some shoppers and employees are grousing about it, a number of major retail chains are moving up the start of Black Friday to Thursday evening in an attempt to start the frenzy before the tryptophan in the Turkey can even take full effect. Toys R Us will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, an hour earlier than last year, and Walmart will open at 10 p.m., two hours ahead of last year’s midnight opening,” according to a report last week in USA Today. “Nationally, about 34 percent of shoppers say they plan to brave the crowds on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year and 26 percent in 2009, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Sixteen percent of shoppers plan to take advantage of the Thanksgiving night sales that will be found at major retailers and even some malls.” Lansing (MI) State Journal Nov.
Wealth Gap Between Younger and Older Americans is Bigger than Ever
Research, Trends, Forecasts
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Nov 142011
Long-term demographic, social and economic changes that have affected different age groups in different ways — exacerbated by the stumbling economy — have created the biggest age-based gap in wealth ever recorded in the United States. Older Americans have always been wealthier than younger Americans since people tend to acquire wealth over time, but the difference today is unprecedented. “In 2009, the median net worth … of households headed by an adult ages 65 or older was 42% more than that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984. By contrast, the net worth of a typical household headed by an adult under the age of 35 in 2009 was 68% less than that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984. In 1984, the age-based wealth gap had been 10:1 in favor of the older group; by 2009, it had ballooned to 47:1.
Kevin Coupe of MorningNewsBeat.com picked up this story last week and offered this recommendation for retailers:
Not only do these numbers suggest a marketing path that ought to be considered by retailers trying to tap into the psyche of this younger generation, but they also point to factors that ought to be taken into consideration by companies looking to hire people of this generation; there may be a fragility to their economic state that can be addressed by employers, and that can be exploited – in the best sense of the word – to create stronger connections and institutional loyalty.
PewResearchCenter Publications Nov. 7, 2011
It’s a Small World: Consumers Most Everywhere Have a Downcast View of the Economy
Geography, International, Research, Trends, Forecasts, UK/Europe, USA
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Nov 022011
The Nielsen Company’s Global Consumer Confidence Index painted a picture of glum consumers in most parts of the world during the third quarter. The powerhouses of the global economy are especially downbeat. One in three North Americans say they have no spare cash. One in five Europeans feel similarly. And even China’s consumer confidence index dipped by a point. Most of the places where consumer confidence is on the rise are starting from a low base — India and the Baltic states, for example. Here is how Venkatesh Bala, chief economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen, summed up the survey’s findings:
A recessionary mindset is growing among consumers as more than half say they are currently in a recession — up 4 percentage points from last quarter and 7 points from the start of the year. The result is continued spending restraint for discretionary expenses, which is expected to continue into next year.
Reuters Oct. 30, 2011
Nov 012011
Retail sales at national chain stores fell by 0.6% during the first four months of October compared to the previous month, according to the Johnson Redbook Index. Dow Jones Newswire Nov. 1, 2011
