In 2018, Ecommerce Sales over the Holidays (November Through the End of the Year) Totaled $126 Billion, up from $108.2 Billion in 2017

This 16% year-over-year growth highlights a few trends that you should keep in mind as you start to get your house in order for the 2019 holiday season. Since July and August are all about pre-campaign prep (check out our pre-holiday checklist for the details), this is the perfect time to examine key holiday trends from seasons past.

2018 Holiday Trends

Rise of Mobile

For the first time ever, smartphones drove over half the traffic and accounted for 31% of the revenue in 2018—a 25% and 34% increase respectively when compared to the prior year. The importance of having a seamless mobile shopping experience, be it through an app or a well-developed mobile site, cannot be overstated. With over half of the traffic coming directly from mobile, you can’t afford to ignore the mobile experience any longer. Make sure that the checkout experience is just as user-friendly to avoid your customers giving up and going elsewhere to purchase their goods. A study by Adobe found that mobile visits lag in conversions, so remove all of the possible barriers to entry, such as hard to read menus, overly complex checkout forms, etc.

Zero in on Thanksgiving Weekend

In 2018, Thanksgiving weekend was responsible for ⅕ of the revenue generated during the holidays, making up 19.2% of the sales. This doesn’t mean you should ignore the other days outside the five-day Thanksgiving timeframe, but make sure you’ve got a solid plan in place for Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. What’s more, consumers spend 40% more per day the three weeks after Cyber Monday than they do during the first three weeks of November. Translation: convert during Thanksgiving weekend and then drive loyalty to gain multiple purchases from the same customers over the rest of the holiday season.

Get Creative with Shipping/Pick-Up Options

Convenience is the key to a customers heart. Adobe found that the number of buy online, pick-up in-stores grew 47% year-over-year. What does that say to us? People want to be able to choose how they get their goods. If you have a brick and mortar presence, think about ways to make a BOPI (buy-online, pick-up in-stores) program part of your holiday plan. Don’t have a brick and mortar store? Get creative with options such as pick up at your nearest FedEx or UPS location or offer other flexible shipping options. As you get started analyzing and prepping your holiday strategy, be sure to keep these noticeable trends in mind. If you need some help getting started, make sure to check out our Pre-Holiday Checklist, which includes mock schedules, campaign ideas, and more. If you’re realizing you may need some extra help this year, contact our full-service digital agency to learn more about how they can help you create and implement a holiday strategy to boost your business. Stats sourced from: https://www.businessinsider.com/2018-holiday-ecommerce-sales-set-record-2019-1