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Written by Jen King Article from eMarketer r A survey from adtech company OpenX conducted last month by The Harris Poll found that more than eight in 10 shoppers say they will spend at least as much as they did last year. Fully 26% of respondents said they plan to spend more; 18% plan to reel in spending. Millennials (those ages 18 to 34) and parents were particularly ready to open their wallets. On average, parents estimated they’ll spend upwards of $1,000 on gifts, compared with millennials’ planned $860 spend. Underpinning shoppers' willingness to spend is a sense of financial stability. More than half of respondents (55%) believe the economy is better now than it was a year ago, and three-fourths are confident that economic improvement will continue. Interestingly, millennials were a bit less sanguine about the economy, with slightly less than half (48%) saying things are better now compared with last year. But like shoppers in general, they are optimisti...

From MarketingProfs : Male holiday shoppers are more likely than female holiday shoppers to be drawn into brick-and-mortar stores by online ads and deals displayed in windows, according to recent research from Euclid. The report was based on data from a survey conducted in September 2017 among 1,500 US shoppers who own smartphones. Younger consumers are more likely than older consumers to say they would chose one retailer over another during the holidays because of the store experience.

From eMarketer : A string of recent data suggests that online retail is going to eat into brick-and-mortar sales faster than ever this holiday season. The latest evidence: An October survey of nearly 7,350 consumers conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federation further found that, for the first time in the survey’s history, online topped all brick-and-mortar destinations as the channel where most consumers said they plan to buy holiday items. In percentage terms, nearly 59% of consumers said they plan to do their holiday shopping online this year, up from 56.5% last year. Also from eMarketer : Adobe predicted that online holiday season sales will rise 13.8% this year to top $100 billion for the first time. According to the report, online sales will grow to $107.4 billion from $94.4 billion in 2016. That's a projected growth rate of 13.8%—a bit slower than in 2016, when the gain was 14.4%, and well off 2015's 17.7% pace.

From MarketingProfs : Retail marketers say developing content and promotions well ahead of time is the most effective thing that can be done to prepare for the winter holiday shopping season, according to recent research from Campaigner. The report was based on data from a survey of 100 retailers who are Campaigner clients. Some 62% of respondents say early development of marketing content and promotions is the most helpful approach for preparing for the holiday season. One-third of retailers who began planning before last September say they had a successful 2016 holiday season; only 22% of retailers who began planning in September or later say they had a successful 2016 holiday season.

Who wants to push their way through crowded stores (let alone find a parking spot) during the holiday season? Based on an August 2014 study by Shullman Research Center, affluents are trying to avoid this. Among US internet users with a household income of $75,000 or more, online-only stores such as Amazon.com and eBay were the shopping venues of choice, cited by 71%. However, affluents won’t shun brick-and-mortar shops completely. The majority planned to head to discount stores to save a few dollars, and 53% said they would also visit mainstream department stores, likely so they can check off gifts for a wide range of people all at once. Still, while in-store holiday shopping certainly isn’t dead among affluents, results from September 2014 polling by Time Inc. and YouGov support Shullman’s finding that online may beat out brick-and-mortar this year. See more at: eMarketer

As 2014 winds down, the results of your retail holiday strategy will slowly come into focus. Hopefully, you're having a merry old time, reaching record heights in sales, customers, revenue, website traffic—all the things that help to make a holiday marketing season bright. However, now is no time to rest on your laurels (or lick your wounds, as the case may be). As every retailer knows, there's no off-season in retail marketing, especially in the online world, where if you're not moving forward... you're automatically falling behind. Even before the ball drops in Times Square to mark 2015's official start in the US, it's critical that you begin cementing the customer gains you've made during the 2014 holidays. If you want to ensure a truly happy new year in the e-commerce space, make sure you take some or all of the following steps. Read more at MarketingProf

For many businesses, the holidays bring in half of annual sales, and this crucial time of year can easily sneak up on them. The time to get ready is now, before getting wrapped up in the day-to-day holiday rush. To help businesses make 2014 their best holiday seasons yet, PlanningShop and Rhonda Abrams have assembled their 14 best tips of the season into a FREE downloadable e-Guide! The 2014 Holiday Success Guide is packed with actionable tips, 'Do this now' instructions and interactive worksheets. You can use the guide to plan for the season no matter what type of business you are running. Rhonda has included tools for planning a social media calendar, capturing new customer names and contact information and even a guide on all the apps that Santa himself will be utilizing this holiday season. Please share this FREE guide with others via www.planningshop.com/HolidaySuccess or via social media utilizing the hashtag #HolidaySuccess.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is encouraging Americans across the country to shop small this November 30 as part of Small Business Saturday, a day that is dedicated to supporting the small businesses that anchor our local communities and strengthen our economy. “From the Main Street shops to the high-tech startups, small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of a diverse and thriving marketplace,” said Acting SBA Administrator Jeanne A. Hulit. “By shopping small and supporting local business, we all have a role to play in giving millions of families the opportunity to achieve the American dream.” America’s 28 million small businesses create two out of every three net new private sector jobs and are the backbone of our economy, with half of working Americans either owning or working for a small business. Small Business Saturday is a nation-wide initiative that brings Americans together to support small businesses, with the money you spend g...

From BizFilings : The harsh reality is that few small businesses can win by trying to imitate the big-box stores and slashing prices dramatically. Mega-businesses have a number of advantages in the price-slashing arena: They can demand low prices from wholesalers and they have a vast array of other products to offset the losses taken on the specials. But, that doesn't mean that you can't have a successful holiday sales season. After seeing every permutation of the 'game' global thermonuclear war resulted in total destruction, Joshua the computer in the movie War Games observed: "the only winning strategy is not to play." And then, he suggested, "How about a nice game of chess." Playing a different game can be your winning strategy as well. Don't compete on price for mass production items. Instead, focus on quality service, unique product offerings and a deep knowledge of your customers and your community.

With the holiday season all but here, more small business owners are making Small Business Saturday an integral factor in their holiday sales plans, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). Some 46% of independent merchants plan to incorporate Small Business Saturday into their holiday strategy, and most of them (67%) say they will offer discounts on November 24, according to the inaugural Small Business Saturday Insights Survey from the NFIB and American Express. Of those small business owners planning to promote Small Business Saturday, 80% expect a year-over-year boost in sales on that day. Read more from Marketing Profs.com

Yesterday, the 12-year-old in my house reminded me that it was just two months until Christmas. It dawned on me that I'd not yet heard a single holiday song in a store, nor have I seen aisles of pharmacies or supermarkets turned over entirely to that season. I thought this to be a big change from recent years, when I began to think that the Halloween season had been absorbed in to Christmas, much like how small towns in the country wake up one morning to find out that they've become a suburb to a big city. Coincidentally, I would up reading this press release heralding the 2009 Online Buyer Economic Trends Study from Performics. This firm conducts consumer surveys every six months regarding their attitudes towards spending. This survey focused specifically on holiday shopping. Its findings include: - Almost 20% of the respondents had begun their holiday shopping in mid-September; - Nearly 75% of shoppers plan on buying fewer items overall; and - Friends, co-workers, and exte...