Digital Marketing

More holiday shoppers grabbed Cyber Week deals this year than ever before — and retailers are eager to keep up the momentum.   Consumers set new records for online sales this year across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, marking a 15.7% year-over-year (YoY) increase in transactions compared to online holiday sales last year. However, there is another day contributing to this increase: Bounceback Tuesday — the day following Cyber Monday where advertisers are actively re-engaging shoppers to drive additional sales.  

Ulta has finished its third quarter with another very impressive set of numbers. Despite lapping some tough comparatives, the pace of growth has quickened with strong uplifts in total and comparable sales, as well as on the bottom line where operating and net income both grew by well over 20%.  

For any retailer that ever wanted to create a “mobile showcase” on Pinterest, now is your chance.  

Mobile commerce drove healthy bottom lines for retailers industry-wide during Cyber Week, and PayPal witnessed the experience first-hand.   The payment processor said one-third of all payment volume on its network during both Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday occurred on mobile devices, according to Tech Crunch.  

Beauty stores are hot — and shoppers around the globe can’t seem to get enough of them.     With hundreds of new door openings during 2015-2016, boutique beauty stores remain on a high growth trajectory, according to an upcoming study from market intelligence and research firm Kline.   

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday broke sales records this year, and early promotions could be a key contributor to this success.   Out of more than 400 major retailers that offered promotions via RetailMeNot, 70% started promoting Black Friday deals before Thanksgiving, the savings destination reported in the “RetailMeNot Promotions Index.” The study, which was conducted between Nov. 24 and Nov. 28, is based on responses from 1,500 Americans aged 18 and over.   

Wayfair not only dominated during Cyber Week — it hit a company high.    The pure play home furnishings retailer reported a 52% increase year-over-year in direct retail gross sales (defined as dollars of order intake) for the five-day peak shopping period of Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. The growth rate of total company gross sales was 46% YOY during the same period.   

Not many companies can follow up its own record-breaking Thanksgiving online sales -- but Kohl’s did.   The chain’s president and CEO Kevin Mansell said that the chain hit double-digit, record-breaking online sales and solid brick-and-mortar traffic to stores on Thursday, Nov. 24 and early Friday, Nov. 25, reported Milwaukee Business Journal.  

Move over Cyber Monday, Cyber Week is the new buzz term.    Cyber Week, comprised of Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 23 through Cyber Monday, Nov. 28, is attracting more shoppers as they “grow more and more comfortable shopping on their phones and tablets, opening up the timetable for brands to reach them during the holiday shopping season," said Tony Zito, CEO, Rakuten Marketing.  

If you’re concerned about employee engagement and reducing your staff turn-over numbers, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a startup offering solutions to meet your workers engagement goals and encourage your associates to stay onboard and thrive with your team. Other companies in the spotlight this month are innovating around point-of-purchase mobile marketing, using in-store scents to stand out, real-time store promotional display monitoring and creating meaningful and memorable customer experiences.