• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 21, 2017

New numbers from InstartLogic show how the holiday season is shaping up, with the influence of digital transformation. 

Online experience company Instart Logic performed an audit of their customer base, which includes leading brands like Neiman Marcus and Kate Spade, and represents several of the country’s biggest retailers with customer traffic representing over 9 billion beacons, and discovered:

• Overall online activity increased by 200%
• Most retailers saw 400-600% traffic growth
• Some actually saw 1000% growth
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday spikes were similar, but with Cyber Monday exceeding Black Friday for several retailers
• Traffic spikes were observed both in the mornings and in the evenings, not just at one time of day

Instart Logic Director of Product Marketing, Gabriel Coelho-Kostolny, says “The online activity we see right now shows that this December is set to be historic for retailers, with online success hitting new highs. For any company that has taken digital transformation seriously this is a time to celebrate… for other companies that have lagged in adopting a modern approach to digital experience, this is a time to reassess their digital strategy to see how they can improve... considering these numbers, any CTO who has not made their company’s online business successful should be worried about their future…”

Gabriel, in looking at the numbers, has developed these predictions:

December 11, referred to as “Green Monday” – grew over 110% year over year across our customer base, and:

• December 12–22 will see traffic increases of between 200 – 400%
• December 23-24 will see a traffic slowdown as customers finish shopping and spend time with family
• December 25^th traffic will spike as people activate their new iPhones and gadgets
• Some companies will potentially be overwhelmed by traffic increases