"Strolling the Agora..." the blog posts of Murray Shor, Shopping Center Digest

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

From NRF - The State of Retailing Online Report 2013

The State of Retailing Online 2013 launches! 
We're excited to announce that the results of the first survey of the State of Retailing Online 2013 study were released on January 13, 2013 as part of the First Look track at the NRF BIG Show.  Covering metrics and key initiatives for retailers in 2013, the report findings help retailers benchmark their online business and highlight areas of focus in e-commerce this year. 
To learn more or to participate in a future SORO study later this year, please contact Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research at Shop.org.   
 
Key Take Aways from the Report:

Key eCommerce Metrics Continue To Grow
On average, the web retailers surveyed in Forrester and Shop.org’s annual The State of Retailing Online study saw growth of 28% in 2012 over 2011. The majority of retailers also responded that the following key site metrics improved in that same time frame: site conversion rates, average order values, and the percent of sales from repeat shoppers.

Key eCommerce Metrics Continue To Grow
On average, the web retailers surveyed in Forrester and Shop.org’s annual The State of Retailing Online study saw growth of 28% in 2012 over 2011. The majority of retailers also responded that the following key site metrics improved in that same time frame: site conversion rates, average order values, and the percent of sales from repeat shoppers.

Mobile sales are Growing particularly Rapidly
While Forrester’s mobile commerce forecast figures show a minority of eCommerce sales (less than 5%) coming from phones, the retailers that responded to our survey said that, on average, they experienced a 129% lift in year-over-year sales from smartphones and a 178% lift from tablets.

Mobile has a net positive impact on Retailers’ Conversion Rates
Th irty-six percent of the retailers surveyed said that mobile sales and traffic have helped their company’s overall web conversion rate, while 29% of the retailers said that mobile sales and traffic have decreased their overall conversion rate.

Site optimization is The Key investment area For 2013
Retailers say that their top priorities in 2013 are improving their site’s conversion rates and redesigning their site experience -- in other words, optimizing their site’s overall performance. Many retailers specifi cally called out plans to focus on the checkout experience and to adjust their site to accommodate a responsive design framework.

Click here for the Table of Contents & Figures.

Click here for more details on the report and how to obtain a copy

Thursday, January 3, 2013

How Santa's Helpers are spending their time and money in-store vs online!

The 2012 Holiday Shopper Unwrapped
 

How Santa's Helpers are spending their time and money in-store vs online!

In the last few days of the holidays season, POPAI brought us their insight into the 2012 Christmas shopping season.

"Tis the season to spend. This season, holiday shopping sales are expected to reach $586 Billion. From an individual consumer spending standpoint that translates to a spend of almost $1000 over the months of November and December. Gifts, decorations, cards and food top the list of pre-holiday purchases at an estimated $984. The spending won't end on December 24th either. An additional $235  is projected to be spent on post-Christmas deals and self-gifting once the holidays are over"

 Click here to see the full infographic and article

Click here to see the full infographic