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This blog will look at the winners and losers in the retail space. Who has the right strategy to capture consumer dollars? It also will look for trends in consumer spending and how that will impact the economy.
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Not only are shoppers hitting the mall less frequently, they’re also hitting the computer less frequently this holiday season and that has e-tailers pulling out all the stops — before the turkey even hits the oven.
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CNBC.com |
Online spending grew just 1 percent from a year earlier, according to e-commerce tracker comScore.
“We’ve never seen anything like that,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.
Indeed, that 1 percent is the lowest on record and a far cry from the peak of 28 percent in August 2007.
Forrester Research projects this holiday season will be the first in which online sales growth slows.
“I think for a lot of these retailers, the end of September and early October was a huge shock. It was like a dislocation … the consumer just stopped spending,” Fulgoni said. “I think that’s when everyone realized they had to treat this season very differently.”
Free shipping used to be the big promo Web shops used to lure shoppers — especially at this point in the season. But consumers have come to expect free shipping online and this year, it’s going to take a lot more to get rattled shoppers to pry open their purses.
Already we’re seeing e-tailers offering 20 to 50 percent off — sales that typically don’t start until Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving — and even 70 percent off of certain items.
Smart Bargains.com is offering at least 60 percent off on everything from cashmere to diamonds and holiday décor. Ann Taylor [ANN
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] has also gone to 60 percent on many items.
Kohl’s [KSS
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] is offering free shipping plus 20 percent off $100 or more, splashing the coupon code on its home page — so you don’t even have to leave leave their site to search for a coupon. It’s also got a section called “Gifts that fit your budget beautifully” and is offering one-day online promos such as 70-percent off imitation diamond jewelry.
Macy’s [M
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] has slashed prices by 20 to 50 percent and is offering special online-only “Web busters,” a play on in-store doorbusters, with discounts up to 70-percent off.
Plus, they’re getting creative.
In addition to its signature red-box items, which are discounted about 50-percent off, JCPenney [JCP
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] is offering an online signup for a Black Friday wake-up call to make sure you snap out of your turkey coma and get to their store by 4 a.m. for the doorbusters the day after Thanksgiving.
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Sears [SHLD
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] and Kmart have up to 70-percent off on some items and, if you sign up for their emails, they’ll send you $10 in coupons. And Kmart has a special “Holiday Hunt” feature, where it’s hidden special deals throughout the site.
Plus, Fulgoni says, several of the multichannel retailers, who have brick-and-mortar shops as well as a Web site, are also pushing the option of buying online, pick-up in store, which allows shoppers to avoid the mall crowds.
Sears takes that a step further, offering shoppers an opportunity to text in their orders by cellphone.
Wal-Mart [WMT
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], which has been the biggest beneficiary of the downturn with its everyday low prices, plays to its strengths. At the bottom of its homepage, it has a running tally, a la the national debt clock, of how much it's saved shoppers since Jan. 1. At last glance, it was around $255 billion!
Zales’ [ZLC
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] clearance section aims to dazzle shoppers with its math: “Online only, take an extra 30% off. Prices already reduced up to 70%.” Plus, they’re offering a holiday sweepstakes online, with a chance to win a $5,000 airline gift card, a 2-carat diamond ring or $102,000 in cash.
The sweepstakes tagline is: “With this ring, I thee wow.”
More like, with this promotion, I thee wow!
Recent Holiday Central Posts:
- A Gift Card as the Perfect Gift? Not Anymore.
- UPS Cranks Up Its Sleigh for Dec. 18
- Web Sales Tactics: Virtual Salespeople and Zombie Videos
- Tech the Halls: Gift Cards Get Gadgets to Lure Shoppers
- Why You Should Worry About Weak Holiday Sales
- Toy Trends: Lean and Barbie Green
- Vote and suggest your own, and remember--there's a fine line between a hero and a zero.
- If you are lucky enough to have money and the time, this is a great time to see America, says CNBC's Jane Wells.
- What’s powering your microwave, fridge and computer? Part of it is fuel from Russian nuclear weapons. The NYT reports.
- One author sees lessons for you in Disney’s recent Makeover of Mickey Mouse: “Nice” doesn’t always win.
- With 123 years of history, slogans and commercials, Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand on earth.
- The opening of a virtual pet store in “World of Warcraft” could prove a cash bonanza for Activision-Blizzard.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes