Study: Digital strategies top retailers’ holiday wish lists
Savvy retailers will use digital marketing strategies to drive traffic to both their e-commerce and physical locations this holiday season.
For example, almost 60% of retailers confirmed that their websites are optimized for mobile — a crucial step to keep digital customers engaged as they search for gifts and make purchase decisions both at home and in-store. Optimization is a must, according to Google, since 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site with which they struggled, and 40% will opt for a competitor’s site following a bad experience.
This was according to the “2017 Small Business Holiday Trends Report,” from Netsertive. The report surveyed more than 500 small and local businesses across the United States.
It’s important for businesses to meet their customers on the channels where they spend the most time and social media definitely meets this criteria. That said, over 55% of retailers plan to use social media as part of their sales strategy this holiday season. Hoping to tap their share of more than 2 billion Facebook users, more than 50% of small and local retailers plan to use Facebook advertising to get buyers in the door.
“With 90% of retail sales still taking place in stores, local businesses have a huge opportunity to drive online customers to brick-and-mortar locations this holiday season,” said Brendan Morrissey, CEO and co-founder of Netsertive. “Shoppers are using the web to figure out what gifts to buy, choose brands and decide where to make a purchase.”
Smaller retailers expect digital strategies will help them compete this holiday season, including digital giants like Amazon. While they don’t have the breadth of Amazon, almost 70% don’t believe that the online giant will impact their holiday sales. Retailers are learning to co-exist with e-commerce players, and even partner with them for a variety of services, including advertising, selling and fulfillment.
Despite these partnerships, especially on the marketing side of the house, 60% of small and local retailers are not using marketing assets from their brand partners — which means they are missing out on an opportunity to win business with their brand’s content and promotions. Most brands set aside co-op marketing dollars in their marketing budgets to support local retailer efforts, yet more than $14 billion of these funds remain unused each year.
For example, almost 60% of retailers confirmed that their websites are optimized for mobile — a crucial step to keep digital customers engaged as they search for gifts and make purchase decisions both at home and in-store. Optimization is a must, according to Google, since 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site with which they struggled, and 40% will opt for a competitor’s site following a bad experience.
This was according to the “2017 Small Business Holiday Trends Report,” from Netsertive. The report surveyed more than 500 small and local businesses across the United States.
It’s important for businesses to meet their customers on the channels where they spend the most time and social media definitely meets this criteria. That said, over 55% of retailers plan to use social media as part of their sales strategy this holiday season. Hoping to tap their share of more than 2 billion Facebook users, more than 50% of small and local retailers plan to use Facebook advertising to get buyers in the door.
“With 90% of retail sales still taking place in stores, local businesses have a huge opportunity to drive online customers to brick-and-mortar locations this holiday season,” said Brendan Morrissey, CEO and co-founder of Netsertive. “Shoppers are using the web to figure out what gifts to buy, choose brands and decide where to make a purchase.”
Smaller retailers expect digital strategies will help them compete this holiday season, including digital giants like Amazon. While they don’t have the breadth of Amazon, almost 70% don’t believe that the online giant will impact their holiday sales. Retailers are learning to co-exist with e-commerce players, and even partner with them for a variety of services, including advertising, selling and fulfillment.
Despite these partnerships, especially on the marketing side of the house, 60% of small and local retailers are not using marketing assets from their brand partners — which means they are missing out on an opportunity to win business with their brand’s content and promotions. Most brands set aside co-op marketing dollars in their marketing budgets to support local retailer efforts, yet more than $14 billion of these funds remain unused each year.