The Messaging Times

2009 Cyber Monday Preliminary Results

Posted on December 1, 2009 by Tom O'Leary

ComScore will publish the 2009 Cyber Monday sales figures tomorrow, but preliminary reports suggest that it may be a record year, with estimates of over $900 Million for the day. Amazon and Walmart appear to be on top of the online shopping cart.

“…Shares of Amazon soared to an all-time high on Monday on optimism over the company’s holiday performance and a statement
by Amazon reporting record November sales for its Kindle electronic book reader.

The Web retail leader has been challenged by Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s WMT.N) smaller online unit on offering the lowest prices on selected books, toys, electronics and other goods this holiday season.

“From a growth perspective, Walmart could potentially be the winner, but from a dollars perspective we still think Amazon will trump it,” said Jefferies analyst Youssef Squali, who estimates that Amazon will report about 30 percent sales growth in its holiday fourth quarter.

Walmart does not break out sales for Walmart.com, but Squali estimates it to be a $2 billion to $3 billion business.

While Web sales represent a fraction of overall U.S. holiday sales, they are gaining strength as consumers intent on
bargains rely more on sites to track and compare deals…” read Cyber Monday Sales May Hit Record, Amazon Ahead

While overall holiday sales (off and online) are just marginally ahead of last year, this is promising news for retailers and great news for online retailers.

Can’t wait to see the figures tomorrow. I’ll post them when they’re out.

Posted in email marketing, Marketing, metrics | Tagged 2009 cyber monday preliminary results, 2009 Cyber Monday results, amazon holiday sales, online retailers, overall holiday sales, US holiday sales, walmart holiday sales | Leave a comment

2009 Black Friday Results and Cyber Monday Indicators

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Tom O'Leary

I did my part to boost the US economy this Cyber Monday by doing some Christmas shopping on amazon.com.

Did you?

What I didn’t do was find incredible bargains on Amazon or anywhere else I looked. Sure, there were some discounted items, but no more so than any other day of the year when I shop online – no major deals that inspired spontaneous purchases – no too-good-too-pass-up Cyber Monday promotions that warranted a run to the bank to seek a line of credit.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that Cyber Monday passed by without much buzz.

“…instead of Cyber Monday, this year we really had “Black Weekend,” which started for many major retailers on Thanksgiving Day and will extend through at least Monday, if not beyond. The deals that most online shoppers will see on Cyber Monday 2009 are the same deals that could have been seen running on e-commerce websites all weekend. That’s good news for those who have been filling their virtual shoppng carts already. It’s not such great news for those who want to have a semi-legitimate excuse for shopping on the job on Cyber Monday…” continue reading

So what about Black Friday? While consumer foot traffic was very heavy, hands didn’t dig deep into the pocketbooks at offline cash registers on Black Friday 2009 . Maybe shoppers were just walking off the Thanksgiving Day meal from the day before? Black Friday sales in 2009 rose just 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion. This pales in comparison with Black Friday 2007, when sales rose by 8.3 percent on the day.

According to ComScore Black Friday analysis, it was a different story online, with Black Friday 2009 sales rising 11 percent from last year to $595 million on the day. Thanksgiving Day also enjoyed an increase of 10 percent from 2008 online sales figures.

Source: ComScore; Black Friday Boasts $595 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Speding, Up 11 Percent Versus Year Ago

Unique visits to the five leading online retail sites rose substantially on Black Friday 2009. Apple enjoyed 39 percent rise in unique traffic from 2008. Also seeing increases in unique traffic were Amazon, 28%; Best Buy, 24%; Walmart, 22% and Target, 2%.

So, online retailers seem to be fairing well this holiday season, although overall retail performance (on and offline combined) seems to be improving only slightly from last year. But improvement is good and it is still early with several big holiday shopping days left on the calendar.

Posted in email marketing, emarketing, Marketing, metrics, Research | Tagged 2009 Black Friday results, 2009 Cyber Monday results, 2009 holiday retail performance, black friday statistics, Cyber Monday statistics | 1 Comment

Thank You!

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Tom O'Leary

The pilgrims were thankful after traveling to an unknown land – a land that did not have hospitals, transportation, housing or schools. They came with a dream and a hope for a better life. And they built it. Would we be so brave today? Here’s to all of today’s leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and activists who take risks in hopes of creating something better for everyone.

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.” -E.P. Powell

I and the entire team at Infacta wish all of our customers, friends and families a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you for being part of the Infacta community.

Posted in GroupMail, GroupMetrics, GroupSurveys, Infacta, Insights | Tagged Infacta, Samuel Adams, thank you, Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving wishes | Leave a comment

How Creative is Your Unsubscribe Process?

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Tom O'Leary

Earlier today I recommended that you take some time to make your autoresponse emails more effective and leverage the opportunity to promote your brand and inspire some action.

The same concept applies to any other situations where canned or auto-generated content is used. Today, I found a very creative example of an unsubscribe link. Rather than your standard “We’re sorry to see you go” blurb, Groupon adds some flavor that might actually cause some to reconsider their choice to leave. To support that possible reconsideration, they offer you a nice, easy-to-find Re-Subscribe button just in case.

Check it out. Unsubscribe from Groupon. Don’t worry, if you are actually a Groupon subscriber, you can re-subscribe on the same page.

How creative is your unsubscribe process? Is it as boring as the next guys or might it inspire some recipients to reconsider?

Posted in communication, Customer service, email, email marketing, emarketing, Marketing, newsletters | Tagged auto-generated content, creative autoresponse messages, creative unsubscribe link, Groupon, re-subscribe | Leave a comment

The Ultimate Black Friday List from Gizmodo

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Tom O'Leary

If you are looking for good Black Friday bargains and simultaneously avoid the hype promotions that doesn’t result in real value, check out Gizmodo’s Black Friday Deals: The Only List You Need.

Gizmodo provides a comprehensive list of recommendations for hot deals on cellphones, computers, computer accessories, digital cameras, digital media cards, DVD players, electronics, GPS, hard drives, home theater, monitors, televisions, video games, printers, software, MP3 players and more.

Thanks to Gizmodo for doing the research for us. If you know of any awesome Black Friday sales, let us know.