The 2013 holiday shopping season broke records on multiple levels, both for dollars spent on individual days, and where transactions took place. Even before the critical weekend leading up to Christmas Eve, ComScore reported that U.S. consumers bought more than $1 billion worth of goods online five separate days in a single week. Marketers who were prepared with brand content had the fuel needed to build visibility and promote their offerings to target audiences for holiday sales.
Chances are the remainder of 2013 will produce impressive figures because nearly half of consumers surveyed by the National Retail Federation said they planned to complete the rest of their purchases on the web.
According to the NRF, this was the highest percentage to date in the 11-year history of the survey. Contributing to this surge is the shortened holiday shopping season, with fewer weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was predicted that online shopping would increase because people didn’t have time to visit brick-and-mortar stores, and could browse and buy from the comfort of their homes.
Totals increased 10 percent from 2012, to hit $42.8 billion for the 2013 shopping season.
Consumers may have also been motivated by offers for free or discounted shipping. ComScore reported Green Monday, the day when 10 full shipping days remain before Christmas, generated $1.4 billion for companies with digital storefronts. This is also a day when many retailers offer shipping price breaks to motivate last-minute shoppers.
These strategies pushed sales to new peaks, as totals increased 10 percent from 2012, to hit $42.8 billion for the 2013 shopping season. Brafton previously reported that 79 percent of American consumers said the internet was the most valuable resource for finding gifts, and given the right incentive, would be likely to act on the spot. It’s not surprising that sales grew this year.
