At KSV, we're all happily settling into a holiday haze and enjoying a day of rest, and we hope you are too.
So much is made of the Black Friday consumer activity, but did you know that 2015 had the lowest Black Friday participation since 2011?
In fact, fewer people shopped on Black Friday, Thanksgiving itself (we're going to go ahead and say this is a good thing), and over the whole weekend last year.
But you know what has been steadily growing, year over year, resulting in 2.98 BILLION in sales last year?
Cyber Monday.
A few other Cyber Monday stats that we should all be paying attention to?
Ok, so people are shopping more from the comfort of their homes (or their offices...). They're spending more.
And perhaps most interestingly, they are researching on phones or tablets and SWITCHING to desk or laptop computers to place their order.
And that little piece of consumer behavior is something every company should be paying attention to.
Especially if you have a program, service or solution that can solve a pain point, intersect with a consumer need, and is considerable part of your business goals.
People will research you first in the way that is most convenient for them. They will take action in a way they feel slightly more confident in (hence the switch to a more traditional "computer" experience, which may be an indication that the mobile or tablet buying process is still challenging for most consumers).
And let's face it, if people are still more confident making a purchase from Target, or Macy's, or even Amazon from a more traditional web experience, how does your businesses mobile web experience measure up?
Perhaps there is an indication here that we should not be looking for opt-ins from mobile experiences, but should instead be focused on making them content rich, valuable experiences that give consumers (both b2b and b2c) the information they need to make a conversion in a different platform.
Which means we also need to be focused on opportunities to pull threads through from a data perspective, to connect the dots for both consumers and marketers alike. So consumers have an easier, more seamless experience with no dead ends and marketers get the answers they are looking for. Namely, what did this person see before they took the action I wanted, or why did they stop before completing this scenario.
So, with a leftover sandwich calling our names, we'll be closely watching the shopping behavior this weekend, and thinking about how to apply the learnings to all of our clients.
From a couch with a tablet, of course.
Happy Thanksgiving, from KSV.
