• by Aaron Baar , December 17, 2017

We may not even be done with the pre-holiday shopping season, but those in the consumer electronics space may want to begin turning their sights to the post-holiday time period. 

According to Criteo, there is a noticeable spike in consumer electronics sales after the holidays. “In the first early days of November, there’s a lot of people shopping and comparing prices, and then you see conversion rates go up” as the holiday season wears on, says John Roswech, executive vice president of brand solutions at Criteo. “[Then,] the day after Christmas until New Year’s Eve, we see a spike in the CE category.”

Through its commerce data, Criteo has analyzed consumers’ online habits and found that CE shopping carts are roughly the same size in the week between Christmas and New Years as they are on Black Friday, Roswech says. 

The reasons may be varied. Some may be spending end-of-of-year bonus cash or anticipated tax benefits; others may be looking to accessorize or add to electronics they got as gifts (headsets for game consoles or phones, for instance), or they may just be looking to solve compatibility issues. Another factor is the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which happens in early January, where brands show off the upcoming tech, making the current stocks quickly outdated.

“The retailers want to do a drain down of their inventory, and you see the brands engaging in promotions,” Roswech tells Marketing Daily. “One of the big things we tell the [CE companies] we work with is to advise brand to hold some of the marketing dollars back for December 26th through 31st.”