Holiday survival guide for ecommerce brands

1. TM
TM
Tick. Tock. Sale.
Conversions
On Demand
2012 Winter Holiday Survival Guide

2. TM
INTRODUCTION
It’s that time of year again.
Everyone is getting out their
boots, hats, scarves and
preparing for the cold. Well,
not everyone. Here at Exclusive
Concepts we’re preparing for
a great holiday season. So,
we’ve put together a primer
for the 2012 holiday shopping
season. We’ve collected some
interesting predictions from
analysts, some shopper behavior
data, and of course, our advice
on what you can do to prepare
your online store for the deluge
we’re all expecting!
We hope you find the contents
of this ebook helpful. As always,
don’t hesitate to contact us if
theres anything we can help you
with.
Holiday Survival Guide
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
but these deals are so delightful
Since we don’t want to go to the mall,
shop online! shop online! shop online!”
CONTENTS
Introduction
Winter 2012 Predictions
Shopper Demographics
Dressing Up Your Website
Stoking the Fire with PPC
Targeting Email Marketing
Get Seen with SEO

3. TM
PREDICTIONS
With the first official day of Fall
just a few days away, it’s time
to sweep the back-to-school
specials off your plate and focus
on the rapidly approaching
holiday season.
By all accounts it is going to be
another competitive season for
ecommerce and online retail. On
the bright side, most analysts
are expecting a strong online
shopping season, especially for
electronics.
Analysts, including Goldman
Small Cap Research, National
Retail Federation, ShopperTrak,
Forrester and BizRate, among
others, sees a broad range of
possibilities; from a 3.3 to a 20%
increase in revenue. Whatever
you think of the range of the
predictions, one thing is for sure,
we’re in for a Merry Christmas,
Happy Hanukkah and Jolly New
Year shopping season!
Holiday Survival Guide
“Consumer shopping patterns have
diverged to the extremes; luxury retail
is back for the higher end consumer
and discount retail is flourishing.”
-Chainlink Retail Advisors

4. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“Seventy percent of holiday shoppers
in 2011 said they made purchases
online rather than in stores because
online retailers offered better deals.”
-Forrester Research
SHOPPER DEMOGRAPHICS
In order to properly sell to
consumer online it’s important
to understand who they are and
how they shop. Here is some of
the data we’ve uncovered that
we thought might be helpful.
90% o
78-89
50-74
30-49
15-29
1-4%
7%14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
7%
14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
NA
$100k+
$75-100k
$50-75k
-$50k
55+
45-54
35-44
25-34
18-24
0
10
20
19%
5%
35%
21%
20%
29%
5%
25%
22%
19%
90% o
78-89
50-74
30-49
15-29
1-4%
7%14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
7%
14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
NA
$100k+
$75-100k
$50-75k
-$50k
55+
45-54
35-44
25-34
18-24
0
10
20
30
40
68% 71% 72%
19%
5%
35%
21%
20%
29%
5%
25%
22%
19%
SHOPPERS
Are 52/48%Female/Male
Typically spend $500or more
online every year
Shopped online 4 or more
timesin the past year
ONLINE SHOPPER INCOME
ONLINE SHOPPER AGE
90% or more
78-89%
50-74%
30-49%
15-29%
1-4%
7%14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
7%
14%
16%
26%
23%
14%
NA
$100k+
$75-100k
$50-75k
-$50k
55+
45-54
35-44
25-34
18-24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
68% 71% 72%
19%
5%
35%
21%
20%
29%
5%
25%
22%
19%
TIME SPENT ON RESEARCH
0
20
40
60
80
100
Friends/FamilyStrangersExpertsAdvertisersCelebrity
8%
27%
14%
70%
90%
Who Has The Greatest
InfluenceOver Online Shoppers?

5. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“By 2012, global mobile commerce will
reach $171.5 billion, reaching $352.7
billion by 2014. US mCommerce in
2012 is expected to reach $11.6 billion.”
-Gartner Research
M-SHOPPER BEHAVIOR
As computers are getting
smaller, becoming mobile
devices, mobile shopping is
growing.
In 2011 68%of all mobile purchases were made
using an iPad
MOBILE
SHOPPERS...
...are 43/52% Female/Male
...in 2011 saw 88%making a purchase with-
in 24 hours of doing
research for it
...made an online purchase
4+ timesin the
past year
90% or more
78-89%
50-74%
30-49%
15-29%
1-4%
$60-100,000/yr
$18-42,000/yr
A
100k+
75-100k
50-75k
50k
5+
5-54
5-44
5-34
8-24
0
20
40
60
80
100
Friends/FamilyStrangersExpertsAdvertisersCelebrity
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
OutsourceFull time
8%
27%
14%
70%
90%
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 10000
Outsourced Annual
Full-Time Annual
0
50
100
150
200
$158
$104 $105
iPad iPhone Other
Mobile
Devices
Desktop
$153
StateCart OF
THE
7%
14%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
68%71%72%
StateCart OF
THE
7%
14%
16%
14%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
68%71%72%
41% of smartphone own-
ers have purchased online
85% of tablet owners have
purchased online

6. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“Compared to 2011, 50% more
consumers use the Internet to find
& share promotions, like coupons &
sales, offered through social media.”
-IBM
DRESSING UP YOUR
WEBSITE
There are a few things you can
make sure your site has that will
improve engagement among
your choppers. Here are a few
helpful suggestions:
Product Reviews - A recent
survey of online shoppers show
that 79% of online customers
rely on product reviews to make
their buying decisions.
Robust Product
Descriptions - Make sure
there is no confusion for your
customers. Provide well thought
out, detailed descriptions
and technical information so
your customers don’t hesitate
to purchase, or worse yet,
leave your site to find more
information.
Shipping Deadlines - Holiday
shoppers have holiday deadlines,
travel deadlines, vacation
deadlines, which means they
have shipping deadlines. Be sure
to make your shipping deadlines,
and costs easy to find.
Tablet Shopping - the use of
tablet computers for shopping
is increasing rapidly. While
you shouldn’t have to worry
about the design of your site,
since most tablets render a
website the same way a laptop
or desktop does, most tablet
shopping is done in the evening.
If you’re targeting electronics
junkies, early adopters, wealthier
or younger customers, plan
promotions around this key
shopping time.
Site Speed - online retail
websites are notoriously
graphics- and content-heavy.
But many people are shopping
wirelessly from their couch or
sneaking in purchases while at
work. Speed is important. Make
sure your website is optimized
for fast download times. If you
need help speeding up your site,
contact Exclusive Concepts. EC
offers Site Speed Optimization
which will dramatically reduce
your site’s load time.
Themed Pages - whether
you’re targeting the holidays
or a specific type of buyer, now
is the time to get your themed
pages in order. While it isn’t the
best time to edit your content
(see our SEO tips), tweaking your
graphic is a great idea.
Social Networks - Do you
have a Facebook or Google Plus
page, Twitter account, Pinterest
board? Offer flash sales, daily
deals and special promotions to
your Fans and Followers. Not
only will they keep following
you, they’ll share those deals,
further stretching awareness of
your store.
Leverage Plugins - Most
ecommerce platforms like Yahoo
Stores, Magento, Big Commerce,
etc. have their own conversion-
enhancing proprietary and third-
party plugins like Conversions
On Demand. Take advantage of
any deals they’re offering for the
holidays.
Up-Sell - Use your checkout
page to up-sell commodity or
related items. Everyone needs
stocking-stuffers right?

7. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“Nearly 1 in 3 respondents (32%) say
they are done with their holiday
shopping by the end of Cyber Monday.”
-RetailMeNot.com
PPC
Pay Per Click advertising has
seen some major changes in the
last year including changes to
Google Shopping. Here are a few
tips to help you maximize your
PPC efforts.
Google Shopping – Come
October, all shopping listings will
utilize a pay-per-click model and
be controlled through Google
AdWords. Now more than ever,
it is imperative that shopping
feeds contain the most up to
date and accurate information.
Titles and descriptions should
be well optimized and all
products should be placed in
correct categories. AdWords
utilizes these categories
in order to show the most
relevant products. Additionally,
highly specific product listing
campaigns can be created where
each category has the most
appropriate bid and messaging.
Remarketing – Shoppers are
extremely savvy and will go
to many sites before making a
purchase. Through remarketing,
advertisers can make sure
their ads stay in front of these
consumers by targeting those
who abandon the shopping
cart or viewers of specific
pages. These ads should contain
special offers for those who
return and purchase. With the
recent update to remarketing,
only one code is needed. New
remarketing audiences can now
be URL based, making setting
up and running remarketing
campaigns that much more
efficient.
Great Ad Copy – From Black
Friday to Cyber Monday to New
Year’s promotions, companies
run many sales and offer great
deals. Make sure ad copy
reflects these promotions and
add a sense of urgency by using
messaging such as “limited
time offer” or “sale ends soon.”
Advertisers should also utilize
ad extensions to take up more
search real estate and promote
even more sales.
Profitable PPC - Exclusive
Concepts prides itself not
only in its knowledge of the
PPC industry but its expertise
in profitable pay per click
strategies. If you want to change
your PPC strategy from one that
is merely competing to one that
is excelling and profitable don’t
hesitate to contact us or visit
our site to learn more about our
Profitable PPC service.

8. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“Desktop email viewing has dropped
by 6% while mobile email is up by 33%.
80.8% of users check their email on
their mobile device.”
-comScore
Email
The average person receives
154 emails every day. 294 billion
emails are sent out to 1.9 billion
email users every day. That
number increases dramatically
during the peak holiday retail
season. So, what do you do
to stand out? Here are some
suggestions.
Campaign Calendar -
Prepare a holiday campaign
calendar that starts in mid-
October. Most retailers begin
holiday promotions in mid-
October, so don’t miss your
chance to capture holiday sales.
Mobile Ready - Mobile email
is up and desktop email is down.
Make sure your emails are
formatted for both desktop
viewing and mobile. Most major
email distribution platforms
will do this for you, but double
check.
One Campaign, One
Promotion - Offering multiple
discounts or incentives in a
singular email campaign may
confuse your readers. One of
the few exceptions is offering
a certain percentage discount
on one price level, and offering
a larger percentage discount
on a higher price level (ex. 10%
off a purchase of $50 and 40%
off a purchase of $100 or more).
But this needs to be explained
clearly.
Highlight Products -
Feature products in your email
campaigns that are currently in
inventory. Featuring a product
that is out-of-stock erodes
customer confidence and hurts
your brand.
Share The Joy - make sure
your emails have built in social
media sharing features. You
want to encourage recipients to
share your great products and
deals with all of their family,
their friends and their “Friends”.
If you need help coming up
with the right look and feel,
the right deals and message, or
the right platform for sending
emails, be sure to reach out to
Exclusive Concepts. We provide
not only access to the best
email platforms out there, but
strategy, creative, and execution
as part of our Optimized Email
Marketing package.

9. TM
Holiday Survival Guide
“31% of consumers plan to do their
holiday shopping online this year.”
-RetailMeNot.com
SEO
The holiday season is NOT the
time to start messing with your
SEO. That’s a task better left for
Spring and Summer.
Freeze Mister - The best
thing for you to do during the
holidays is FREEZE THE SITE.
Now, we’re not talking about
adding new content, but don’t
mess around with old content.
Don’t make any big changes that
could backfire and take you out
of the most important season.
But don’t change reporting
platforms or web servers or
(heaven forbid!) relaunch the
site. Even if a new site is running
great and looks wonderful, if the
transition hasn’t been handled
correctly, you could lose big on
authority metrics that tank your
search visibility.
Analyze This - The other thing
that you should do is make sure
that your tracking and analytics
are up to snuff. Do you have
data segments? Can you filter
content data by category or
product type? What do you need
to set up now in order to analyze
your results effectively, post-
holiday, and prepare for the
following year?
Old And New - We’ve already
said that now is not the time
to mess with your SEO by
making changes to your existing
content. But that doesn’t mean
you shouldn’t be optimizing
the heck out of your new
content. As you’re loading new
products consider using them as
templates for your old content.
Once the holiday season is
over, you can always go back
and adjust the old content to
get it up to spec. If you need
assistance with SEO strategy
and execution we have a staff of
advanced SEO experts that can
help.

10. CONTACT US Today
Telephone: 888.540.7698
Fax: 781.222.1021
info@exclusiveconcepts.com
30 Corporate Drive Suite 350
Burlington, MA 01803
www.exclusiveconcepts.com