Retail & Ecommerce
Building a social media following isn't just a great way to engage customers online, it can also help increase brick-and-mortar foot traffic.
While many shoppers still pay with cash, mobile payment utilization continues to increase. To keep adoption rates on the rise, however, better improvements to visibility, quality, connection and usage instructions will need to be implemented.
eMarketer vice president of research Jennifer Pearson and principal analyst Mark Dolliver discuss Mother’s Day shopping, spending and digital usage habits in the US.
According to a March 2019 RetailMeNot study, internet users looking for more information in-store often skip approaching retail associates and go directly to their smartphones. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they would look for reviews on their phone first, and 53% would search for deals before speaking with an employee.
Loyalty programs have drawn in many consumers over the years, but millennials and Gen Zers are not participating at the same level as those generations before them did.
Three in five US internet users say they've purchased clothes, shoes or accessories online in the past month, according to an April 2019 eMarketer survey conducted by Bizrate Insights. That figure climbs to 68% for females as well as younger consumers (ages 18 to 34).
One sector seeing major growth is Walmart’s CPG categories. Although trailing Amazon in volume across nearly every category, Walmart’s year-over-year growth is substantial. According to an April 2019 release from marketing analytics platform Jumpshot, Walmart’s 2018 growth outpaced Amazon in five major CPG categories.
Last week, Amazon announced its latest ploy to attract and retain Prime members: An $800 million investment in one-day delivery. This expansion initiative comes when growth among its most lucrative shoppers is waning. We estimate that US Prime user growth will be less than 9% this year, vs. 12.5% in 2018.
Younger, digitally engaged consumers love to use almost any technology that might make their buying process more self-sufficient, whereas traditional consumers are driven more by cost and ease of use.
According to a November 2018 study from AllianceData, a majority of the consumers surveyed said they want more control over email frequency and the content they receive from brands. Meanwhile, just a small number of marketers said they are meeting those needs.
Marketers are looking to chatbots to help personalize the automated aspects of customer service, but many believe the technology still has some ways to go before catching up with their expectations.
Finding the right balance when serving personalized content to consumers can be tricky. But marketers that do this successfully understand that fostering better communication with their target audience is key.
After initial signs of success, Kohl’s will expand its Amazon returns program nationwide in July. The pilot program, which launched in Chicago and Los Angeles in 2017, performed particularly well, leading to 9% growth in new customers and 8% growth in revenues compared with national growth of 1% and 2%, respectively, according to payment data analyzed by Earnest Research.
In April, Wayfair celebrated its second annual Way Day, a “holiday” dedicated to better-than-Black-Friday deals. The retailer saw double-digit sales growth over the first Way Day, as well as an increased number of orders and unique customers, according to an April 2019 report from Edison Trends. Better timing, an extended sales period and greater consumer offerings helped the retailer achieve these metrics.
This Mother’s Day, gift givers will spend a record-breaking $25.0 billion on their mothers and other women in their lives, according to an April 2019 report from the National Retail Federation (NRF). This figure tops last year’s spending of $23.1 billion.
eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman discusses Amazon's new one-day delivery promise to US Prime members. How much will this move the needle? How are the company's financials? And what's the most significant move Amazon has made in the past six months?
As a last-touch channel, social networks have doubled in visit share to US retail sites in the past two years. And the overwhelming majority of social referrals come from smartphones, according to Q1 2019 data from Adobe Digital Insights.
In today's "eMarketer Daily Forecast" video, forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom tees up our numbers for retail and ecommerce sales by device. Watch now.
Monthly purchases made via smart speakers rose by 5.4% year over year in the US, per January 2019 data from voice tech companies Voicebot and Voicify. However, those who shopped using voice accounted for less than one-fifth of smart speaker users.
In the latest episode of "Behind the Numbers," eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman talks about US consumers' attitudes toward loyalty programs. What do consumers want from a loyalty program? Who subscribes and who doesn’t? And what impact does it have on those who are part of a loyalty program?