Marketing and Merchandising Efforts Nets Satisfied Customers
The 2003 online holiday season presented the gift of growth to the retail industry, as consumers were pleased with their online shopping experiences. Below are highlights from the fourth and final phase of the Shop.org/BizRate 2003 eHoliday Mood study.
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Revenue growth strong.
More than half (59%) of retailers reported revenue growth for the 2003 online holiday season of 25 percent or higher. Almost a third (30%) reported revenue increases of 50 percent or more. -
Customer satisfaction increases.
Online shopping was also a positive experience for consumers during the 2003 eHoliday, with 89 percent of shoppers somewhat or very satisfied with their online buying experience, up from 84 percent last year. -
Free shipping remains the king of online marketing promotions.
Free shipping with conditions was cited by 59 percent of merchants as their most successful marketing promotions, followed by an online-only sale (27%), and free shipping with no conditions. (24%). -
Despite spam concerns, retailers continue to have success with email.
Email was the clear leader among retailers for getting their promotions in front of shoppers, with 86 percent citing their own email promotions as one of their most successful marketing vehicles. Shoppers are clearly reading their messages, as 38 percent of merchants stated their email open rates had increased significantly or somewhat from last year. -
Search engines and affiliate marketing help retailers find customers.
Throughout all four phases of the eHoliday Mood Study, search engine marketing and affiliate marketing remained the second and third most successful marketing vehicle for retailers. According to the survey, for the entire holiday season 58 percent of merchants cited search engine marketing as their most successful marketing vehicle. Affiliate marketing was cited as most successful by 50 percent of merchants.
Online retailing is clearly seeing strong momentum based on this successful holiday season, said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. Online retailers are becoming more sophisticated in their marketing and merchandising efforts, as they continue to be integrated into their companies overall operations. This benefits both retailers and their customers.
The 2003 holiday season continues the successes of last year, said Chuck Davis, President and CEO of BizRate.com. "Online retailers created marketing messages that resonated with their customers, who went to merchants Web sites to buy the great deals they were offered."
About the Survey
The Shop.org/BizRate.com 2003 eHoliday Mood Study was designed to gauge consumer behavior and online retailers success during the winter holiday season. The poll of 5,163 online buyers (defined as anyone who has made a purchase online in the last twelve months) and more than 80 online retailers, all members of Shop.org, was conducted December 29-30.
BizRate.com. Founded in 1996, BizRate.com is one of the largest, fastest and most accurate shopping search engines on the Web. With an index of over 30 million product offers from more than 40,000 stores, BizRate.com uses ShopRankTM, a proprietary shopping search algorithm, to produce the industry's most relevant search results by weighing price, popularity and availability of products, against the reputations of merchants that sell them. At the heart of ShopRankTM are BizRate.com's signature merchant and product ratings, collected from more than one million online buyers each month, making them the most reliable ratings on the Web. Every week, the BizRate.com shopping search engine prepares millions of shoppers to make smarter, more confident purchases and sends them directly to the checkout page of thousands of online merchants.
Shop.org, the association for retailers online, is where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and Multi-Channel retailing. Founded in 1996, Shop.org became a division of the National Retail Federation in January 2001. The association’s membership includes interactive executives from store-based retailers, catalogue-based retailers, Web-based retailers, and retail solution providers.
The eHoliday Mood Study is the only holiday measurement tool that is based on data provided directly from online retailers in addition to consumer data. The third of four instalments, which represents the two-week buying period between November 30 and December 13, includes data from more than 80 leading Internet and multi-channel retailers all Shop.org members.
For the entire 2003 holiday sales period, is your revenue from shipments
compared to the same period last year?
| 86 responses |
% |
Cumulative % |
| 150% or higher |
3% |
3% |
| 100% to 149% higher |
7% |
10% |
| 75% to 99% higher |
8% |
19% |
| 50% to 74% higher |
12% |
30% |
| 35% to 49% higher |
13% |
43% |
| 25% to 34% higher |
16% |
59% |
| 18% to 24% higher |
10% |
70% |
| 10% to 17% higher |
13% |
83% |
| 0 to 9% higher |
3% |
86% |
| About the same |
7% |
93% |
| 0 to 9% lower |
5% |
98% |
| 10 to 19% lower |
2% |
100% |
| 20% or lower |
0% |
100% |
How satisfied are you with your online buying experience this holiday
season?
| 4746 responses |
% |
| Very satisfied |
66.3% |
| Somewhat satisfied |
22.4% |
| Neither |
7.7% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied |
2.6% |
| Very dissatisfied |
0.8% |
What marketing promotion has been most successful in driving business
for this 8-week period?
| 85 responses |
% |
Rank |
| Free ship with conditions |
59% |
1 |
| Online only sale |
27% |
2 |
| Free ship no conditions |
24% |
3 |
| Offline-online sale |
22% |
4 |
| Free gift with purchase |
14% |
5 |
| Early shopper discount |
8% |
6 |
| Buy x get x free |
8% |
6 |
| Other marketing promotion |
7% |
8 |
| None |
7% |
8 |
| First-time buyer discount |
6% |
10 |
| Repeat-buyer discount |
5% |
11 |
| Purchase with purchase |
4% |
12 |
| Rebate |
2% |
13 |
| Tax free promotion |
0% |
14 |
What promotion vehicle has been most successful in driving business
for this 8-week period?
| 86 responses |
% |
Rank |
| Own email promotion |
86% |
1 |
| Search engine marketing |
58% |
2 |
| Affiliate marketing |
50% |
3 |
| Catalog drops |
37% |
4 |
| Portal shopping listing |
17% |
5 |
| Pop-up/Pop-under |
12% |
6 |
| Circular sales piece |
12% |
6 |
| Portal promotion/sale |
9% |
8 |
| Coupon on your website |
8% |
9 |
| Comparison shopping site |
8% |
9 |
| Other email promotion |
7% |
11 |
| Offline-online coordinate |
7% |
11 |
| Other |
7% |
11 |
| Magazine ad |
7% |
11 |
| In-store signage |
7% |
11 |
| Other print coupon |
6% |
16 |
| Full page ad |
5% |
17 |
| Coupon in a print circular |
3% |
18 |
| Online gift certificates |
2% |
19 |
| Offline gift certificates |
2% |
19 |
| Rebate |
2% |
19 |
| Floating ad |
1% |
22 |
Email open rate for 8-week period:
84 responses |
% |
Cumulative % |
| Increased significantly |
2% |
2% |
| Increased somewhat |
36% |
38% |
| Stayed the same |
48% |
86% |
| Decreased somewhat |
13% |
99% |
| Decreased significantly |
1% |
100% |
