More On Black Friday (Benchmark Report from Coremetrics)

SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - November 28, 2009) - The U.S online retail sector delivered a strong comeback on Black Friday 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to Coremetrics, the leader in marketing optimization.



This analysis, delivered as part of Coremetrics' second annual Black Friday Benchmark Report, reveals the following trends and patterns as of 12:00 am PST:

• The average dollar value that consumers spent per online order rose 35.0 percent year over year, led by apparel retailers.


• Consumers are buying more items per order than they did last year -- by 18.3 percent.


• Consumers are spending considerably less time browsing retailers' sites, suggesting they had done their research prior to Black Friday and that they are shopping from lists.


• Browsing sessions were down by 5.4 percent


• The number of people who left a site after viewing only one page (also known as a "bounce" rate) was up by 39.4 percent


• Page views per session declined by 30.4 percent

"The healthy jump in the average amount of money people are willing to spend online this year suggests consumers have adjusted their shopping patterns to the reality of the economic downturn. They're thriftier, they're savvier and every one of them wants to be the best bargain hunter out there," said John Squire, chief strategy officer, Coremetrics. "Secondly, there are fewer online retailers this year than last year. Those who survived the first several months of the downturn are pulling out all the stops to lure shoppers with aggressive incentives. The net effect is a jump in the amount the average person spends online and in the number of things they're willing to purchase per order."



Retail Categories

• Apparel retailers and jewelry retailers reported the biggest jumps in the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order, up 28.6 percent and nearly 25 percent respectively.


• Department stores did a phenomenal job of attracting new consumers to their sites, reporting a 151.7 percent jump. However, the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order actually decreased by 7.2 percent, suggesting that shoppers may be sitting on the sidelines waiting for more discounts and special offers.


• Sports Gear and Apparel retailers also reported a rise of 54.6 percent in the number of new consumers visiting their sites and a 61.3 percent jump in the number of sessions in which consumers completed an order. But the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order declined slightly by 3.1 percent.

Source



These findings are based on data from Coremetrics Benchmark™, the industry's only peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including commerce data, against those of the competition. More than 500 leading U.S. retailers, contribute their analytics data to Benchmark. All data is aggregated and anonymized. Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, Bloomingdale's, Coldwater Creek, L'Occitane en Provence, Macy's, Nordstrom, Office Depot, PETCO and Williams-Sonoma are just a few of the participating companies.



Coremetrics recently enhanced Benchmark to include near-real-time data and added advanced functionality, such as sales trends by comparison period, conversion rates from Pay per Click (PPC) campaigns, and website traffic by browser type. Over the last year, Coremetrics has nearly doubled the number of companies participating in Benchmark.



Coremetrics Benchmark comes standard with Coremetrics Analytics for no additional cost.

Related Materials

1. Complete Coremetrics Black Friday Benchmark Report (pdf)

2. Press FAQ

Black Friday Online Retail Sales Grow 41% Over 2008

For the Record:  Black Friday 2009 Online Retail Sales Grow 41% Over 2008 Reports Mercent; Mercent eCommerce Index Signals Strong Online Holiday Sales

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - November 28, 2009) - Mercent™, a leading provider of on-demand marketing solutions for retailers, today released the Mercent eCommerce Index™ for Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day 2009.



The Mercent eCommerce Index is a scheduled report that measures the year-over-year (YOY) same-seller online gross merchandise value (GMV) growth of Mercent's aggregate retail clients each quarter and for key dates and date ranges during the holiday shopping season. Today's release specifically includes consumer retail e-commerce growth figures for Black Friday (November 27, 2009) and Thanksgiving Day (November 26, 2009).

• For the 24 hours of Thanksgiving Day 2009, Mercent reports overall same-seller online retail GMV grew 33% relative to Thanksgiving Day 2008.


• For the 24 hours of Black Friday 2009, Mercent reports overall same- seller online retail GMV grew 41% on Black Friday relative to 2008.


• On Thanksgiving Day, same-seller GMV of Mercent clients participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" third-party marketplace program increased by 78% relative to Thanksgiving Day 2008.


• On Black Friday, same-seller GMV of Mercent clients participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" third-party marketplace program increased by 56% on Black Friday relative to 2008.

2009 Key Holiday Shopping Days vs. Corresponding Days in 2008 for eCommerce Spending

Holiday Season Day Online Shopping Channels  ALL AMZN

November 26th (Thanksgiving Day) 33%    78%

November 27th (Black Friday) 41%    56%

According to Mercent CEO Eric Best, "Mercent data indicates Black Friday holiday eCommerce retail sales are markedly better than the same period in 2008, further confirming our belief the retail industry, especially online, is in a measured recovery. Furthermore, we believe consumers are responding well to aggressive merchant promotions, discounts and increased customer service levels offered online -- particularly among market leaders like Amazon.com. We anticipate this growth to continue on Cyber Monday and through the peak selling season in December."



Mercent attributes merchant GMV sales growth across online channels to the macro-economic recovery in non-discretionary and discretionary spending; the increased draw of online channels that provide aggressive and competitive purchasing options for value-conscious shoppers; and the efficiencies of major online shopping destinations such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and others, that are placing downward pressure on industry selling and fulfillment expenses. Furthermore, the most competitive merchants are becoming intensely savvy and efficient with their online sales and advertising strategies, leveraging technologies like Mercent Retail™ to seamlessly integrate product data feeds with online sales channels and fully optimize online ad campaigns and promotions to drive incremental sales.