Report: Retailer spending up over Thanksgiving weekend

According to the numbers from Marin Software:

• Retailers increased paid search spending by 59% Year over Year (YoY)
• CPCs increased 21% YoY
• Search clicks increased 19% for the holiday weekend YoY
• Thanksgiving day saw search clicks increase 22% YoY

"Retailers are not only investing more budget online, but also targeting consumers earlier in the sales cycle," said Matt Lawson Vice President of Marketing at Marin Software. "Consumers increasingly rely on online alerts, ads, and reviews to inform their buying decisions. And advertisers are looking to keep ahead, especially during the holiday shopping season."

Meanwhile, Responsys reports emailers broke Thanksgiving Weekend records, sending an average of 5.3 promotional emails to list members (18% increase YoY).

"The transition to email, mobile, social and other digital channels and away from print, direct mail and other traditional channels continues unabated," said Chad White, Research Director at Responsys. "Email is clearly one of the channels on which marketers are focusing their attention. Just as Black Friday is overflowing into Thanksgiving, Black Friday week, and into the earlier weeks of November, Cyber Monday has grown beyond a 1-day event. "Many retailers released their Cyber Monday deals on Sunday and many more will extend them into Tuesday or till the end of 'Cyber Week.' And with Thanksgiving arriving early this year, we're likely to see more retailers trumpeting 'Cyber Monday' savings on the Mondays in December as well. We'll have a Cyber December to match Black November."

Most (93%) of retailers sent messages on Cyber Monday alone.

Tags: advertising trends, email marketing, Marin Software, paid search spending, Responsys, retailer spending