Winter Holidays

Buying tech products was the No. 1 priority on consumers’ shopping lists this past holiday weekend, according to a new survey from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Cyber Monday, the day of the year that traditionally sees the highest volume of digital shopping transactions, falls this week. In honor of the occasion, I’d like to offer three tips on how to keep the spirit of Cyber Monday alive throughout the year.   Obviously retailers cannot afford to offer Cyber Monday-level online bargain prices all year long, but there are several non-monetary steps they can take.   Make It Personal

Cyber Monday online sales were up 8.7% as of 3 p.m. EST over the same period on Cyber Monday 2013, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, with mobile traffic accounting for 38.6%  of all online traffic, up 28.8% over last year.   Mobile sales accounted for 21.3% of all online sales on Cyber Monday, an increase of 29.3% year over year.    Here are the key drivers behind the Cyber Monday trends, according to IBM:   

San Francisco – Social media posts around holiday shopping peaked on Black Friday (Nov. 28) at 2.7 million. According to data from Salesforce, there were also about 1.84 million holiday shopping posts on Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), and about 719,000 posts the day before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26).  

To celebrate the busiest monogramming season of the year, Lands’ End is launching #MonogramMonday.

Washington, D.C. – Online sales are expected to reach $300 billion in 2014, $335 billion in 2015 and $512 billion by 2020. According to predictions from FTI Consulting Inc., despite sluggish retail sales in the past year, FTI Consulting's Retail & Consumer Product experts believe online sales will continue to grow at a double-digit rate for the next several years.  

All systems are go and the holiday season is clear for takeoff at Macy's Herald Square in New York City.

That’s because this year’s Macy’s Christmas window display, “Santa’s Journey to the Stars,” traces the adventures of Alex, a young boy who receives a magical and mystical telescope that allows him to experience the wonder of Christmas on other planets before landing back on Earth at the iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Pittsburgh - Just more one-third of all Black Friday online revenue came from shoppers on mobile devices, up 48 percent from 2013. According to Branding Brand's sample of 35 North American retailers running on its commerce platform, 90% of these consumers were on Apple devices.   Mobile devices (smartphone and tablets combined) produced a total of almost 2.2 million visits, 48,000 orders, and $5. 54 million in revenue on Black Friday. In addition, mobile devices generated: