It's that time of the year again: Christmas Holiday Shopping Season Black Friday: The annual ritual of retailers promoting their wares with phenomenal savings to attract customers, signaling the beginning of the Holiday Shopping Season. Most retailers have even extended it to cover the entire weekend. Traditionally, shoppers have camped out, stood in long lines and braved chilly temperatures for a chance to purchase products advertised at bargain basement prices. But more often than not their targeted items(s) have sold out before their position in those lines could even gain entry to the store. Even though this practice continues today, more and more shoppers are turning to the convenience of on-line shopping to make purchases not only during the Christmas shopping season, but throughout the year. A fact not lost with big box retailers as they have begun to direct more advertisement dollars toward online shopping ( their websites and social media networks) to maintain their customer base. After all, what could be easier than making an online purchase and then simply pick up the item(s) at the nearest store location? The days of billboard, mass transit and newspaper coupons as the premiere means of advertising are dwindling rapidly in today "wired" world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhuoBJQM3c4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT7rNNALKhU&feature=channel&list=UL
(Figure 1: Bus Stop Bench)
Cyber Monday Retailers have now come up with a new approach to the Holiday Shopping frenzy. The Monday after Black Friday has been dubbed as Cyber Monday. It was created by companies to encourage more online shopping and made its debut in November 2005. Bargains similar to those offered during the Black Friday weekend are readily available by not only the Big Box dealers, but a plethora of merchants offering deals to potential customers via the internet. It has become an international marketing strategy used by online retailers in Canada, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany and Chile.
(Figure 2: Lighted Billboard)
(Figure 3: Bus Billboard)
The New York Times reported that " The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productivew working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work on Monday and purchasing what they liked." After returning from the long Thanksgiving weekend with a lot of holiday shopping still ahead of them, many consumers tend to continue their holiday shopping from work locations with 2010 and 2011 seeing 16% and 22% increases respectively
The first-ever $1 billion online shopping day ($1028M) occurred in 2010, an increase of 16 percent over 2009.
And in 2011 it was reported that Cyber week saw US consumers spend over $6 billion online from November 28 to December 2.
Conclusion:
These figures serves as facts that companies ignoring today’s business practices to maintain and acquire new customers will be left in a quagmire of obscurity. A business that can't be found is a business that doesn't exist. And where are business found? Private Websites, (Google, Yahoo, Bing searches), and Social Networks. The irony of this situation is that currently the internet is an even playing field affording small businesses the opportunity to promote their products just like those Big Box companies.
All Business Owners should consider the following questions.
1.) Does your online presence readily allow customers the ability to get the latest information about your goods and services?
2.) What is your company doing to increase name recognition and grow your customer base?
3.) Are you using your website to its full potential?
4.) Are you using Social Networks to advertise your products and services to Grow Your Business?
Contact Gator Media Productions today to improve your online presence.
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