2005: Fantastic Finish

Ahh, the end of December when Steeler fans remember Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception. Ecommerce also saw a fantastic finish. Online holiday sales were up 30% over last year. Face it, online shopping is becoming more and more popular. In a few years it will be second nature, just like looking up the weather or using Google.

What was interesting is that the season saw peaks in online shopping on Mondays. Experts believe shopper went window shopping at retail stores over the weekends then bought online on Monday (probably for less $$$). Did you do this? I know I paid the same price for one purchase when I included shipping. However the store didn't have the item in stock so I would have had to make another trip - thus I went online and got the same item with 'express' shipping for the same price.
Another interesting fact was the buying season was extended. Online purchasing falls off quickly towards Xmas as consumers fear the goods won't be delivered in time. However this year the decline wasn't as sharp as consumers are more confident in shipping. Merchants are also offering more shipping options and UPS, Fedex etc now have excellent online order tracking.

What did people buy online? Clothes, computers and hardware, then electronics. The last two categories jumped over 100% since last year! These figures are all in sales $$$. So the comparison is influenced by item price. Last time I checked Versace didn't do much online business :-)

Anywho, it was a great season for online retailers. Now back to another 10 months of 'normal' online sales. And don't forget to root on PENN STATE tonight in the bowl game...

WE ARE ... PENN STATE

-Tallyho

Online Spending Growth Steady at 24%

Yes, online sales growth is 24% over last year. No surprise from me, as I envision total online sales to increase. When you consider only 3% on total sales are online, then you can see there is definite room for growth. The growth of comparison sites such as Froogle and Shop.com has made it easy to find bargains. Free shipping is becoming more and more prevalent. Even with shipping, time is valuble. Most shipping costs less than the time a shopper would invest driving to the store, picking up the merchandise, checking out, and going back home. Convenience - don't we pay $1 for a cup of coffee at the corner instead of pouring a $.10 'GO' mug of joe at home? OK ramble has ended. Remember to fight the Establishment and give generously to charity this holiday season.

TallyHO

The Lion, the Witch, and eCommerce

Catching title, don't you think. Another holiday blockbuster opens on Friday and I am in. The movie industry is getting their money's worth from me this year. I plan to attend the HP, LW&W, and KONG, possible multiple viewings of the soon to be Peter Jackson classic. What does this have to do with eCommerce. Nothing. Traditionally movie sales have been hard to correlate to holiday spending or the economy and thus to eCommerce. In fact I haven't seen too many reports on eCommerce sales lately accept they are up 20%. I do know Best Buy's website was overwhelmed with traffic on Black Friday. Best Buy? Hello there? Do you know how many customers you turned away? Some unfortunate IT worker(s) is probably standing in the cheese line after that!

TallyHO

Ecommerce Holiday Sales

Now for something completely different - a post on ecommerce. 'Black Monday' online sales were up 29% over last year. So despite many articles and opinions to the contrary, more people are shopping online. Incidently the first 2 Mondays in December are usually the biggest for online sales. Why? Shipping. Online sales peak earlier as most customers are concerned merchandise will arrive before Xmas. In the retail world, Black Friday is not the busiest day. The Saturday before Xmas is usually the biggest day. This could change this year as retailers offered cheap Black Friday discounts to start off the holiday season. Most retailers have waited (you guessed it!) to the last week before Xmas to have sales to promote holiday spending. It will be interesting to see how this year shakes out - Do online sales negatively affect retail sales or will they boost overall sales? What do you think?

Ventilation Smentilation

I noticed an inordinate amount of people are currently sick. Could this be due to known ventilation problem in the Sheilds building? Inquiring minds want to know! I wonder what would happen if we graphed Shields sick time vs. say the Computer Building. Of course, Hippa regulations prevent this - I believe. On that subject, no more DAS calendar. OHR has developed a new system we are going to use starting the new year, so only one more month of marking 2 calendars - O HAPPY DAY!

Boo-Yah Tuesday

As I was discussing last week, Tuesday doesn't get any respect. Thus, we're trying to give it an identity by calling it Bou-yah Tuesday! Spread the word - The Establishment has kept Tuesday down too long. Change is coming, brothers and sisters, the answer is blowing in the wind - BOU-YAH!

I promised an ecommerce stat, so here it is: Online retailers are predicting a strong holiday season. Online sales should increase 25% over last year. This due to gas prices, comparative shopping, and general acceptance of online retailing, HO-HO-HO!

Oh yeah, check out Martha's site. I promised I would include the link in my blog to raise her Search Engine rank!

www.martha.com.br

www.creativeidleness.com.br

I think the second link requires knowledge of Portuguese, but hey just click around anyway!

Bowl Magic

Looks like a warm weather bowl game is in the PSU future - tempe, miami, pasadena? I don't think they get snow there! Who will we play? Who cares! It's going to be warm there. Place to stay? Forgetaboutit, bring a hammock.

Other ramblings: New Harry Potter is best of the films so far, however the kids are getting pretty old. I hope they are shooting the next movie already otherwise the actors might be too old. King Kong looks awesome! Where's my ape mask?
I saw the FUNNIEST commercial on Saturday. It's just people with Dr. Pepper cans getting hit by footballs and spilling their Dr Pepper. It sounds so stupid - but it is hilarious! The kid at the end in the lunch line is priceless.

Maybe I'll mention some eCommerce stuff tomorrow.