Coremetrics Dispels Myth of Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday, as it is known, is usually the Monday following Thanksgiving’s Black Friday and is reputed to be the largest online shopping day of the holiday season. Coremetrics is forecasting that in 2006 retailers should expect the highest traffic on Cyber Monday but the highest sales a week later on Monday, December 04, which is now being called eDay.

Coremetrics bases its forecasts on the data received from over 200 largest eCommerce companies from UK and US. The statistics from last year show a 22% increase in online intake on eDay in relation to Cyber Monday. This helps predict that there will be an approximate increase of 19% on eDay this year in relation to this years Cyber Monday. Coremetrics is also expecting that “overall holiday retail sales will increase 16% over last year’s holiday season.”

According to Forrester Research, Q4 2006 sales should reach $27 billion. With many retailers generating 20 – 40% of their online revenue during the holiday season it’s important that marketing campaigns are planned to maximize exposure and drive customers to buy sooner rather than later.

Coremetrics suggests that marketers execute some well-timed online campaigns before and after eDay:-

– During the weeks before and after eDay, launch personalized email campaigns, increase paid search daily budgets and per-click bids, and optimize shopping comparison site placements

– One week following eDay, use these same marketing channels to communicate a sense of urgency and drive customers to shop prior to inventory limitations, high shipment costs, or inability to deliver on time

– Two weeks after eDay, highlight the store finder, in-store pick up and in-store promotions to drive sales from last-minute shoppers who might not want to risk shipping delays, and reduce your paid search daily budgets and click prices back to pre-holiday levels.