Copy the link to learn more on our site:http://www.mdgadvertising.com/blog/holiday-trends-marketers-cant-ignore-infographic - Each year, the holidays bring out consumers looking for great gifts and good deals. Yet long before the masses hit the malls, marketers have their eyes on spotting the shopping trends of the season that will determine the direction of their holiday marketing efforts. To offer these marketers the gift of guidance, MDG Advertising created the following festive infographic. It shows how digital is driving the way Americans are shopping and spending this season. From online shopping to mobile browsing and social media recommendations, shoppers favor the convenience and ease of these digital means. As a result, marketers are wisely leveraging these channels for maximum reach and response to ensure the happiest holiday results. The infographic opens with a competitive overview of how more than 30 percent of the top 10 retailers got a head start on holiday shopping by advertising Black Fridays deals much earlier this year. This strategy proved successful and 43 percent of consumers actually started shopping around Halloween. Then, the graph illustrates how mobile is making a major difference in our buying behavior as 40 percent of consumers plan to browse items on their mobile devices before making their holiday purchases. Among these mobile mavens, 42 percent will use them to search for special deals while 41 percent will seek competitive prices on Amazon and 37 percent will simply browse online for interesting items. Fortunately for retailers, mobile pays off since shoppers on tablets typically spend more than those on desktops. Online shopping has proved popular for years, but this holiday season should see a whopping 98 percent of consumers doing some of their buying online and two-thirds of shoppers doing most or all of their spending on the Internet. The rate of online shopping has steadily risen in recent years and 2012 is expected to bring a 17 percent increase in online sales during November and December. Next, the infographic shows that tablets are hot for the holidays. More than half of all consumers want one of these digital devices, with one-quarter of them willing to forgo other gadgets in order to get a tablet of their own. It should come as no surprise that more than 30 percent of holiday shoppers buying tablets are actually getting them for themselves. Interestingly, 87 percent of tablet buyers will base their selection on consumer reviews, while 77 percent will opt for free shipping offers and 68 percent will base their buys on brand reputation. To learn more about the top retail marketing trends of the holiday shopping season, contact MDG Advertising today at 561-338-7797, or visit http://www.mdgadvertising.com.

1. Holiday Trends
Marketers Can't Ignore
THIS HOLIDAY SEASON IS FILLED WITH DIGITAL TRENDS.
Consumers’ (holiday) spirits are up, and retailers will be busy. As the twinkle lights heat up, marketers are
on the lookout for ways to reach American shoppers. Here’s a hint: Consumers are spending more online,
they want tablets, and social media isn’t the only advertising tool they’re using this season.
THE COMPETITION IS HEATING UP
Christmas came early this year for many retailers, as more than 30% of
retailers started advertising their Black Friday deals earlier in 2012 than they
did in 2011.
42%
Advertising earlier helped retailers gain in value perceptions.
According to YouGov’s Brand Index, the top 10 retailers perceived
to provide the best value are:
In 2012, 42% of retailers
started Christmas advertising
in October.
74%
Because of the earlier jump in holiday marketing, more consumers
started their holiday shopping prior to November.
35% 43%
In 2011, online sales
increased by 74% the
2011 2012 week before Christmas.
SHOPPERS GONE MOBILE
Holiday shoppers are no longer shackled to their home computers. Today, 40% of consumers will browse items in
stores before making their purchases online.
Across the board, people are using their mobile devices as Christmas shopping tools for a
variety of activities, including:
42% 41% 37% 37% 33%
Checking for Looking for Browsing online Looking up Searching for
sales and specials competitive pricing stores for products store information product ratings
on Amazon of interest and reviews
It pays off for e-commerce retailers, as shoppers using tablets typically spend more.
AVERAGE
AVERAGE PURCHASE
PURCHASE VIA
VIA TABLET DESKTOP
THE STATE OF ONLINE SHOPPING
98% of all Christmas shoppers will be doing a portion of their shopping online, and two out of three Americans
are planning to do most, if not all, of it online.
Online sales in November and December will be about 17% higher in 2012 than 2011,
following a continual annual increase.
80 Billion
$54.47
$46.64 billion
60 Billion $40.04 billion
$33.79 billion
billion
40 Billion
20 Billion
0
2009 2010 2011 2012
HOLIDAY TABLET HABIT
With 10% more people buying mobile devices for Christmas this year, it shouldn’t
come as much of a surprise that more than half of all consumers want a tablet.
One in four shoppers would even give up buying another gadget if it meant having
a tablet instead.
59%
2012 is the first year where several high-quality
credible tablet options will compete against the
iPad, giving consumers more choices for which
brand to put on their wish list:
iPad 3 or iPad 63%
Given the choice between a
iPad Mini 24% PC or a tablet as a holiday
Samsung Galaxy Note 22% gift, 59% of respondents in a
Amazon Kindle Fire HD PriceGrabber survey chose
20% the tablet.
Microsoft Surface 13%
Google Nexus 7 12%
Amazon Kindle Fire 8%
Sony Tablet S 8%
Toshiba Excite 7% 34%
According to a 2012 TechBargains survey, prospective tablet
buyers are making their choices based on:
87%
77% 68% 61%
49% 40%
24%
About a third of those buying
tablets this Christmas will be
purchasing them for
Consumer Free Brand Discounts Coupon Friends’ Rebates themselves.
product reviews shipping reputation codes recommendations
REACHING CONSUMERS
Advertisers expand existing online marketing and continue to increase spending in social media marketing,
according to Experian's "2012 Holiday Marketing Checklist" study.
2011’s Top 3 Most Successful Holiday Marketing Tactics:
*Percentages slightly rounded past 100
KEY: Extremely Successful Very Successful Moderately Successful Slightly Successful Not At All Successful Didn’t Use
Email Marketing
5.3% 40.4% 29.8% 5.3% 3.5% 15.8%
Paid Search Marketing
9.3% 31.5% 31.5% 7.4% 3.7% 16.7%
Online Display Marketing
3.7% 25.9% 33.3% 16.7% 5.6% 14.8%
2012’s Social Media Holiday Advertising Investment, Compared to 2011:
*Percentages slightly rounded past 100
KEY: Significant Increase Increase Same Investment Decrease Significant Decrease Won’t Invest
5.9% 47.1% 37.3% 2% 7.8%
3.9% 29.4% 41.2% 2% 2% 21.6%
As 57% of Americans will be shopping the day
after Christmas, advertisers can keep the sales
going right past the actual holiday.
SOURCES:
EMARKETER.COM, EXPERIAN.COM, PRNEWSWIRE.COM, BUSINESS2COMMUNITY.COM,
TECHBARGAINS.COM, BRANDINDEX.COM, ECONSULTANCY.COM, BIZREPORT.COM, mdgadvertising.com
LIVEPERSON.COM, INR.SYNAPTICDIGITAL.COM/AMERICANEXPRESS twitter: @MDGadvertising