Commentary

The Dash To Cyber Monday: Research Shows An Earlier Shopping Cycle

Consumers will be shopping earlier this holiday season, if last year’s behavior is any indication.

Email conversion rates hit 6.1% in November 2018, compared with 3.1% in December, according to 2019 Holiday Marketing Guide, new iteration of research conducted by Yes Marketing. 

And Cyber Monday was a big part of it. Conversion rates increased by 57% YOY. And yet there was a 25% boost in the number of brands using the event in their email. 

But it’s not all good news: The average open rates for holiday them emailed hit 10.5% in the fourth quarter, but that rate was lower than those of non-themed emails in the same period. And response flattened overall.

Specifically, the Black Friday open rate fell to 12% from 14% in Q4 2017.  And the average click rate was stagnant at 1.3%.

But the conversion rate! That leaped to 14% from 8.9% the year before.

Similarly, the Black Friday open rate dropped to 12% from 14% in 2017. But the conversion rate hit 8.8% -- up from 6.4%.

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The only holiday lower conversion rate than the year before was Christmas itself: It dipped to 2.9% from 3.7%.

And predictably, response and conversions slide on New Year’s Day. 

Of course, this year is a little different: there’s a shorter shopping window.

The study also found that:

  • 26% of Black Friday emails were sent before Nov. 19
  • 67% of Cyber Monday subject lines did not include a specific offer
  • Only 6.4% of brands used a free shipping incentive for Cyber Monday

Adobe projects that online sales will grow by 14.1% and total retail by 4%. Online sales should hit $143.7 billion.

Cyber Monday sales alone will reach $9.4 billion, an 18.9% increase over the prior year.

Yes Marketing cites research that 74% of Americans prioritize experiences over products or things. Moreover, “more and more shoppers look beyond the product label to consider how their purchasing habits support their values before deciding to buy,” it concludes. 

Yes Marketing used its cross-channel communication platform to track almost 8 billion emails sent in the fourth quarter.

 

 

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