Social shopping, mobile commerce expected to drive holiday sales

SEATTLE — The retail industry is expected to benefit from mobile commerce, free shipping offers, in-store pickup promotions and e-commerce videos during the 2014 holiday season. According to global analytics and insights firm Blueocean Intelligence, the top six digital and social media trends that will drive sales for retailers in the upcoming holiday season are:

 

1. Visual content and interactions in holiday campaigns. Retailers across industries will entice their customers with high-quality audio and video. Video and image sharing will be dominant on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

 

2. Social shopping becomes a reality. With the introduction of Twitter’s “buy” button and Facebook’s e-commerce integration, there will be a big push with social shopping. Many e-commerce giants are already piloting programs — a sign that mainstream adoption isn’t far away.

 

3. Retailers will spend more on social- and geo-targeted campaigns. Retailers will direct a significantly greater portion of their marketing budgets toward social, and especially around geo-targeting customers. Consumers can expect different offers by state and city.

 

4. Consumers will shop early. Customers don’t want to wait or only visit stores on select days, so they will take advantage of early offers that retailers push in October. As a result, retailers may eventually opt for guaranteed delivery cutoff dates closer to mid-December, rather than waiting until Christmas Eve.

 

5. Mobile commerce will experience a big turnaround. Mobile visits to e-commerce sites have boomed in recent years. For example, CVS Caremark encourages clients to refill prescriptions with an app. Kroger created an app that generates real-time offers and coupons. Home Depot has an app providing on-demand, real-time inventory and stock updates. Additionally, the newly released Amazon Fire phone and iPhone push consumers to shop via mobile devices.

 

6. Online retailers will use free shipping and in-store pickup incentives to drive more sales. A 2014 survey by UPS and ComScore found 81% of online shoppers believe free shipping is important. Complimentary in-store pickup has been found to be an effective promotion in recent years. Companies that actively communicate theses incentives via social and digital platforms have the potential to drive more sales this holiday.