A massive $2bn is predicted to be spent on Cyber Monday in the US, whilst Europeans are going to spread their Christmas shopping over a three-week bonanza, according to new research.
Predictive analysis from Adobe has produced interesting comparisons in Christmas shopping behaviour between Europe and the United States (U.S.).
Whilst in the U.S. this year, online sales are predicted to reach $2 billion on Cyber Monday (26th November), an 18% growth on 2011, consumers this side of the pond prefer to spread their Christmas shopping over a longer period of time rather than one single day.
European retailers have already seen average daily sales increase by as much as 150% since the first week of November, but are bracing themselves for a three-week shopping spree starting on the 26th November, that will see an additional 25% increase in daily sales.
European retailers will see a similar spike immediately following Christmas. In fact, UK retailers are predicted to see a very busy Boxing Day this year, with a 150% increase on an average shopping day.
On Christmas day itself, we will see a further contrast with our American counterparts, with Europeans 14% more likely to shop online.
Interestingly, the analysis predicts that as it gets closer to Christmas, brick-and-click retailers will see their sales peak the week of 3rd December, whereas e-tailers will see sales continue to rise and peak the week of 10th December.
The figures are drawn from the Adobe Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast, which analysed more than 150 billion website visits to more than 500 Adobe retail customers from the US (60%) and Europe (40%) over the past six years.
Using predictive analytics technology, the Adobe Marketing Cloud can sift through massive amounts of historical data from the Web’s top retailers to identify patterns and algorithmically predict future results.
Brits Embrace Mobile
In case we needed any more proof that 2012 has been the year of the mobile device, this Christmas 13% of seasonal revenue for UK retailers is expected to come from a smartphone, tablet or e-reader. In fact, the UK is forecast to see the biggest growth in mobile shopping in Europe, in comparison to the same period last year with sales jumping from 6% to 13%; 44% higher than France and Germany where 9% of online sales are forecast to be made on mobile devices.
Of the European countries analysed, the UK is set to also see the greatest growth in shopping via a tablet, increasing a very significant 166%, from 3% of sales last year to 8% of sales this year, indicating that Brits have embraced tablet devices more than any other European country. Germany follows closely behind with 150% growth from 2% to 5% and France at 66% from 3% to 5%.
Simon Morris, marketing director, Digital Marketing Business, Adobe, commented: “With the average retailer expecting 32% of its annual online revenue to come from the three-month festive period from November to January, it’s more important than ever for marketers to leverage big data to accurately forecast the trends before they happen. Adobe is the big data company and with the Marketing Cloud we help marketers sort through and understand online and offline data so they can uncover patterns and act on this insight, enabling them to optimise their Christmas campaigns, in what is a very competitive market”.
Adobe’s online shopping predictions and actual results will also be available on an ongoing basis via a new interactive website that will continuously monitor and update online purchasing data as-it-happens throughout the season.
The Adobe Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast and interactive website can be accessed at http://adobe.com/go/onlineshopping.
Source: www.adobe.com/uk
