Flash sales and shopping apps may help holiday sales

Flash sales are helping push some retailers into higher sales. According to the Inc. 500 private sales likes like Amazon.com's My Habit, Beyond the Rack and eBay's Fashion Vault are engaging about one-quarter of consumers. Meanwhile data from Experian/Cheetahmail finds that email messages drive nearly 20% of flash sale site traffic; social and search spur just over 10% of traffic.

AOL is gearing up for the holiday rush with the release of a new 'window shopping' app. The app is part of its Premium Format ad units; it gives online retailers the ability to to serve ads over a page the consumer is already viewing. The consumer has control - they can open the ad unit or leave it closed.

Meanwhile, a new green initiative from Excellent Packaging offers retailers FSC certified bags on which they can advertise. With plastic bags outlawed in many US cities, and even more considering the measure, offering consumer sustainable bags to replace them makes sense; advertising on those bags help pair a brand with green marketing efforts.

Allen King, president of Excellent Packaging & Supply said, "Consumers quickly recognize that the Versa bag is no ordinary paper shopping bags, and this adds a powerful element of differentiation to the brand printed on the bag. Retailers can also take advantage of our custom print shopping bag service and feel confident that they are offering their shoppers a truly green and sustainable solution."

It is early yet for many holiday buys, but consumers are likely to begin window shopping - online and offline - over the next few weeks. According to Experian/Hitwise, the top retail traffic online continues to head to Amazon, Walmart and Target.

Tags: ecommerce, email marketing, holiday 2011 trends, online shopping, social marketing