Posted by: Molly Griffin, Marketing Associate
Online sales continue to reach record levels as the end to the 2011 holiday season quickly approaches. Comscore reported today that total holiday eCommerce spending for the first 46 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season has reached $30.9 billion, a 15% increase versus the same time in 2010. Free Shipping Day 2011 (Friday December 16) ended with an astonishing $1.07 billion in eCommerce sales, a 14% increase from 2010.
Free Shipping has been a major eCommerce trend from the start this holiday season. Dydacomp CEO Fred Lizza was recently quoted in a recent article for eCommerceTimes discussing the power of free shipping. Fred stated:
“We’ve seen statistics suggesting that over 50 percent of retailers are offering free shipping this year. Retailers have found room in their budgets to provide this to lure more consumers to shop with them. And it’s working…” Click here to continue reading the eCommerceTimes article.
Accurate inventory management was another influential factor on eCommerce sales this holiday season. It enables eCommerce business run efficiently and ensure customers received their orders on time. Fred was quoted in a BizReport article advising merchants on the importance of inventory management during this busy holiday season:
“Inventory tracking is a ‘gotta-have’. In today’s economy, there’s a very high price for lost sales because of out-of-stock conditions, and absolutely nobody wants to carry excess inventory. Shoppers will not tolerate ordering a product, then being told later it’s out of stock. They want to know at the time of placing an order – online, by phone or in-store – that the items is available, in-stock and when it will be shipped and delivered. That’s especially critical as the holidays get closer…” Click here to continue reading and to learn more eCommerce tips to end this holiday season a high note.
Be sure you also take a minute to review Fred’s top five tips, from an article in Retail Online Integration, to ensure your eCommerce site is optimized and ready to finish the holiday season strong.
What tips do you have to share with other merchants on what enabled you capture eCommerce sales this holiday season?
Good luck and we hope wish you a successful end to 2011 holiday season.
