We’re over half way through November already, Christmas is coming, but there are a few important dates to get out of the way first – Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Black Friday will get a lot of the attention but it’s Cyber Monday that will bring in the best results for retailers. Rakuten Marketing released new data that suggested sales will increase by 90% on November 30, 2015. The data also showed that peopled will engage with an ad four times before they actually buy a product over the Black Friday weekend and that British Brands will see their international sales increase during December. Are you ready?

Smartphones at the Ready

RhythmOne released a report showing that 72% of consumers will be making their Christmas purchases using their Smartphones this year. The other findings in the report only go to support the importance of including mobile devices in your marketing plans and strategies:

• 60% of 18-34 year old mobile shoppers will complete their Christmas shopping solely using their Smartphone.
• Shoppers will make use of their Smartphones to help them with their buying choices when they are already in a retail store.
• Two fifths of all shoppers will make more use of their smartphones and tablets more for their Christmas shopping than in 2014.

Digital Receipts

Have you been into a shop recently and asked for your email address at the checkout so a digital receipt can be sent to your inbox? This is a trend that is growing and the latest research from Bronto has revealed that 45% of UK shoppers want digital copies of receipts, something many retailers are yet to pick up on. Bronto also found:

• The average UK consumers spend an average of 87 hours online per year.
• 64% of consumers are happy to receive marketing content along with their e-receipt. This rises to 75% of consumers between the ages of 18-24 year olds.
• 43% of 18-24 year olds shop from their bed and 62% of consumers will shop in their living rooms.

The Weather and Emails

The weather is playing a part in the marketing decisions of some retailers according to Guy Hanson from Return Path. There’s support for this as the cold and wet UK weather does reduce the engagement and the open rates of emails, but this is reversed when the weather picks up.

Senior Marketers Need to Move with the Times

The second annual Digital marketing Manager’s Census revealed that 39% of senior marketing professionals still haven’t grasped the importance of digital. The findings also showed that more money is needed to be moved offline but 66% are finding it hard to find people with the right skills while 68% want to see improved integration of off and online marketing. Worryingly, the report found that despite 25% of UK media consumption taking place on mobile, only 10% of adspend is allocated to this channel.