Thursday, November 24, 2011

Google chief urges retailers to fire up Christmas online marketing

christmas marketing
Retailers should have their online Christmas campaigns ready for December 4, when the window for international online retailers shipping to Australia starts to close and searches aimed a finding local retail starts to rise, Google retail chief Ross McDonald says.

In a bid to help retailers make the most of the Christmas season, Google has unveiled a report on consumer shopping habits, including the categories currently attracting the most online searches.

So far, the big winners include mass merchant retailers (with searches up 47% year over year), followed by food and drinks (up 31%) and toys (up 28%).

Google has also identified key dates retailers need to be aware of:

* December 4. Shopping windows for international online retailers traditionally close, while searches for domestic online retailers rise.
* December 11. Searches for store names, plus “trading hours” or “location” begin to rise. Last year, searches for trading hours grew nearly 250% in the two weeks before Christmas. This year, such searches are already up 37% year over year, with a third of these searches coming from a mobile device.
* December 16. Searches spike for “store name”, “hours” and “location” on the last day that local online retailers can guarantee delivery before December 25, and the last in-store retail weekend before Christmas.

Ross McDonald, head of retail for Google Australia, says businesses need to take a strategic and long-term approach to their online Christmas campaign, claiming timing is everything.

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