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The Who, When & What of Xmas Retailing

Teresa Sperti

With just over 6 weeks until the fat man makes his way down the chimney most retailers are in the thick of the promotional season. But are you maximising the online retailing opportunity? This article looks at the when, who and what of online Xmas retailing in Australia to help you ramp up your promotional efforts.

Who?
Nielsen research group says that 38% of Christmas purchases last year were made online, with each internet-connected Australian spending an average of $224 via the web. However who is spending the dosh? A Christmas gifts survey conducted by http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com found 45% of Australian men have never shopped for gifts online, compared to 23.9% of women. From the limited statistics on offer in Australia we are able to draw conclusions that online shopping is a prominent channel for purchasing Christmas gifts and probably is more so for women.

What is however more important to consider is the role that online plays in the entire Christmas shopping process. Whilst 1 in 3 are buying online, many more would be researching their gifts prior to completing the purchase in-store thus it is important to have a presence online over this key season.

When?
Statistics from 2008 show that whilst retailers see the last 6 weeks as the Christmas frenzy, online retailing for Christmas starts to pick up at the start of November - this reinforces the point above that many shoppers hit the net to do their research prior to heading out

Nielsen Online Xmas Shopping Trends

It is however also interesting to note that online retailing extends far beyond Santa’s visit. January is another core time to capitalize for online retailing so ensure your campaigns extend well beyond the 25th of December.

What?

According to Hitwise, consumer electronics was one category that saw strong performance over the Christmas period in 2008 and continues to be strong in 2009 (refer below). In particular Hitwise stated in their recent Online Retail Series report that Online gaming and consoles are particularly popular around Christmas. Search behaviour plotted by Hitwise demonstrates the increasing demand over the silly season.

Hitwise Electronics Search Trends

Other popular electronics categories include; Mobile, Computers (notebooks and MP3 players) and Cameras. Headphones, Navigation and Set Top Boxes.

But electronics is not the only lucrative channel. According to Mastercard toys are another popular online category in Australia and if we look at Google Insights we can see search volumes for toys have increased significantly over the past 90 days as we move into the peak retailing period.

Google Search Insights - Toys

Further to this, Australia’s National Retailer Association has revealed that 1 in 5 Australian consumers will buy gift vouchers for Christmas – up by 7%. Google’s Insight search shows that one of the hottest places for consumers to look for this is online – with the growth in search obvious from the below graph.

Gift Voucher Searches - Google Search Insight

Other important information: Statistics show that this year Australians plan to spend less at Christmas. A survey from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute revealed 35% of consumers are not willing to spend as much money this Christmas period compared to last year. With consumers being very cost conscious retailers need to consider to tailor their product offerings and messaging to suit those looking to save some money this Xmas.

Got any insight or advice for online retailers? If so share it below.

Teresa Sperti is one of our guest bloggers covering a range of digital topics.  When she is not blogging for us, Teresa authors her own blog - DigitalMarketingLab.com.au and is Head of Online Marketing for Australia's 3rd largest real estate portal - Realestateview.com.au.