This document provides strategies for online retailers to maximize sales during the holiday season. It notes that the 2013 holiday season will be the biggest yet with online sales growth outpacing in-store growth. Key strategies include optimizing search, product listing, and display ads. Retargeting is also important, with customized lists for different customer segments. Social media and mobile will play an increasing role. Analyzing data and utilizing all available advertising formats across devices is critical to winning the online "Super Bowl" of the holiday season.

1. The Online Super Bowl
Keys to Winning the Holidays
Mason Garrity
Account Director, 3Q Digital

2. H OLID AY TR EN D S

3. 2012-13 BY TH E N U MBER S
• $61B projected for Nov-Dec in 2013, a 15%
increase over 2012
• 30-40% of total online retail sales happen
in Nov-Dec
• 12 days topped $1B in sales last year
• 2013 will be condensed with 6 fewer days
between Thanksgiving and Christmas

4. 2013 DATES OF SIGN IFIC AN CE
Holiday Season: Nov 1 – Dec 31
Hanukkah: Nov 27 – Dec 5
Thanksgiving: Nov 28
Black Friday: Nov 29
Cyber Monday: Dec 2
Green Monday: Dec 9
Free Shipping Day: Dec 18

5. 2012 YEAR OVER YEAR GR OWTH
Holiday Season
$46.6B
$53.7B
+14%
Black Friday
$816M
$1B
+28%
Thanksgiving
$479M $633M
+32%
Cyber Monday
$1.25B
$1.47B
+17%

6. 2011 -12 BY TH E N U MBER S
$8,000
Weekly Spending ($ Millions)
$7,000
$6,000
2011
2012
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,000
$Week 1
(11/4)
Week 2
(11/11)
Week 3
(11/18)
Week 4
(11/25)
Week 5
(12/2)
Week 6
(12/9)
Week 7
(12/16)
Week 8
(12/23)
Week 9
(12/30)
36% y/y increase in sales during the week of
Christmas in 2012

7. 2013 TOP CATEGOR IES
What are people going to be shopping for
this year?
• Gift Cards: 56%
• Apparel: 54%
• Toys: 44%
• Electronics: 39%

8. 2012 ACCOUN T EXAMPLES
Holiday Cards
Gift Cards (buy and sell)
Tech gadget, single product

9. PRODUCT LAU N C H ES

10. C REATE A NEW BASELIN E
• New customers increased 49% in
holiday months in 2012
• 25% of people shop on sites they
previously had not shopped on
• Most are looking for the best price
• Followed by selection
• People become less brand loyal

11. C REATE A NEW BASELIN E
• Use the spike in demand and first
time customers to create new, loyal
customers
• If you can do this…
•
•
1/3 of the time they will share your
brand with others
Over 50% of the time they will make a
repeat purchase

12. MESSAGIN G

13. WHY ONLINE IN 2013?
68% - Free Shipping
58% - Online only discounts
46% - Avoiding the crowds
43% - No sales tax
41% - Easy to use website
14% - “nothing would entice me to buy
holiday gifts online”

14. FREE SHIPPIN G IS A KEY D RIVER
Many companies offer free-shipping or qualified
shipping year round, those who don‟t introduce it
during select holiday dates
• A UPS study indicated that 68% of shoppers
have recommended an online store on the basis
that they offered free shipping
• If free shipping is not an option 36% plan to buy
online, and pickup in-store

15. D ISCOUNT SH OPPIN G
• Discounts are more important than ever
• 48% will search for and buy only discounted
items
• 76% will shop discount retailers (73% in
2012)
• 39% will return and then repurchase an item
that goes on sale
• An item being on sale is the primary driver for
making the purchase

16. “WEBR OOMING” AN D “SH OWROOMING”
• “webrooming” is on the rise and is
popular with 65% of holiday shoppers
• 47% want to avoid shipping costs
• 46% want to be able to see the item before
buying
• The likelihood of showrooming is also on
the rise, 63% vs. 56% in 2012

17. METR IC S

18. ACCOUNT METR IC S
Month
September
October
November
December
AOV
$
$
$
$
184
190
193
215
CPC
$
$
$
$
0.56
0.62
0.71
0.80
ConRate
Purchase
Quantity
2.4%
2.6%
3.1%
4.1%
1.29
1.30
1.31
1.43
• People are more likely to convert, buy more
products, with a higher order value
• These conditions will lead to a more competitive
marketplace – CPCs will increase significantly

19. TIME SHIFT
Latency is cut down, more revenue and
conversions come in on same day as click
Holiday Season
72% of conv
61% of rev
Non-Holiday
55% of conv
46% of rev
26% of rev
14% of conv
after 12 days
31% of rev
24% of conv
after 12 days

20. C HANGE IN C LIC K PATH BEHAVIOR
There is also a change in click patterns, it
takes more clicks to get a conversion
Holiday Season
13% increase in multiclick conversion paths
13% increase in 2-click
path conversions
Non-Holiday

21. SEAR C H TAC TIC S

22. IMPORTANCE OF SEAR C H
• Annually, retail is the largest spender on
search by a large margin
• 65% of retail ad spend focuses on direct
response, vs. 35% on branding
• 51% of people are unsure when they will
begin shopping for the holidays
• 30% that do know, plan on starting
before Halloween

23. 2012 QUERY TR EN D S
2012
November-December

24. GENDER DIFFER EN C ES
Index Avg
Men: 54
Women: 22
Boys: 16
Girls: 23

25. R ELATIONSHIP D IFFER EN C ES
Index Avg
Mom: 38
Dad: 29
Husband: 7
Wife: 11

26. KEYS TO SEAR C H
• Reacting quickly to data over the next 2
months is critical
• Start by looking at historical query data
from 2012, by different time segments
• You should know the top performing queries for
the holiday season, as well as on the important
dates outlined
• Structure these keywords in a manner
that allows you to be nimble

27. ALPHA -BETA & SIN GLE KW AD GROUPS
• A Beta campaign is designed to quickly
identify profitable search queries and
eliminate unprofitable ones
• An Alpha campaign is designed to
isolate profitable queries into ad groups
with targeted ad text and landing pages
• The overall objective is to take 100%
control of your queries!

28. ALPHA -BETA & SIN GLE KW AD GROUPS
Query: holiday shoe deals
Ad Group: holiday shoe deals
Keyword: [holiday shoe deals]
Ad Copy/LP: Customized to this query
Negative keyword: -[holiday shoe deals]
Apply to all other campaigns in account

29. R EMARKETIN G LISTS FOR SEARCH
Expand your reach by layering user lists
Relevant
Keyword
Set
Profitable
Keyword
Set
Profitable
Keyword Set
When
Targeting
Relevant Users
Combine with custom messaging

30. PRODUCT LISTIN G AD S

31. PRODUCT LISTIN G AD S
• May „12 Google announces product
results will transition to full pay for
placement model
• Oct „12 Google transitions to full
commercial model, removing organic
shopping results
• Since the switch there has been an
increase in search share vs. text
ads, CPC, CTR, and overall spend

32. PLA TRENDS
Indexed CPC peaked in December, but has
continued to rise through „13

33. PLA TRENDS
Spend on PLAs vs. Text sees a massive
uptick over the holidays

34. PLA TRENDS
PLA CTR has been on the rise for most of
2013, suggesting large increases ahead in Nov
& Dec

35. PLA BEST PR AC TIC ES
• Ability to optimize campaigns will largely
be determined by the quality of your
data feed
• Granularity of product targets is key to
running an efficient campaign, and
maximizing volume
• Group similar products for promotional
text
• Group top performing products

36. 360 IMAGES WITH GOOGLE
Enhance your products in Google
Shopping and PLAs with 360 Images

37. D ISPLAY AN D R ETAR GETIN G
TAC TIC S

38. D ISPLAY OVERVIEW
• Unlike search, retail is not the largest industry
on display throughout the year
• However, they do buy the majority of RTB
impressions
• This share goes from ~25% in Q1/Q2 to 36%
in Q4
• CPMs become very expensive, so for nonretail display advertisers – throttle back your
display plans
• Retargeting needs to be a key tactic in your
holiday plans

39. R ETARGETING BASIC SEGMENTATION
Create retargeting lists based on site
interaction, and time passed since interaction
Visitors
Category page
Product Page
Shopping Cart
0 to 3 Days
5
6
7
8
4 to 7 Days 8 to 14 Days 14 to 30 Days
4
3
2
5
4
3
6
5
4
7
6
5
Purchasers should also be a list, and
depending on timing, can be utilized in different
ways

40. R ETARGETIN G FOR TH E H OLIDAYS
• Create new lists for holiday
segments, with shorter pixel windows
• Create targeted messages based on
site interaction to encourage purchase
• Gradually lift frequency caps on
appropriate segments as holiday season
moves on, and purchase deadline
approaches

41. V I S I TO R S E G M E N T S – G O O G L E A N A LY T I C S

42. D YNAMIC RETAR GETIN G
Dynamic retargeting allows for custom
messaging and product targeting, especially
useful for abandoned shopping carts

43. SAVING FOR N EXT YEAR
Use your holiday retargeting lists to target
these customers post-holiday season
• Retargeting is the best performing
display format year round
• Leverage your newly expanded lists to
create new, loyal customers in 2014
• Valentine‟s day in particular is a great
target depending on product

44. YOUTUBE VID EO AD S FOR DR
If executed properly, YouTube TrueView ads
can act as a great direct response medium
• Creative needs to be created for this
purpose, with strong call-to-action
• Take advantage of lower TrueView CPCs

45. TH E MU LTI -SC R EEN WOR LD

46. MOBILE BY TH E N U MBER S
• 68% increase in online sales from
mobile in 2013
• 13% of online sales in during the 2012
Holiday Season happened on mobile
• Projected to be 16% in 2013
• 1 of 3 holiday shopping queries
happened on a mobile device in 2012
• Mobile usage peaks during “in-office”
hours, while tablets peak after-work

47. THE POWER OF MOBILE
Mobile‟s ability to bridge the online and
offline shopping experience presents
unique opportunities. This season mobile
devices will mostly be used to:
•
•
•
•
•
Make purchases
Research products
Check prices
Read product and store reviews
Locate retail locations

48. MOBILE PURC H ASES
As more apps and sites optimize their
mobile checkout experience, the barrier to
transaction is lowering dramatically
• 57% of retailers have invested in
optimizing their mobile websites in
the past year
• 18% claim “they are not easy for
shopping” compared to 28% in 2012

49. C OMPANION SH OPPIN G
• 84% of shoppers use smartphones as
in-store shopping companions
• 69% use Google for mobile price
research, 57% turn to Amazon
• 1/3 use their phones rather than talking
to an employee

50. IN STORE OFFER S
Using Swirl, Timberland ran
a 20% in-store only
discount at two retail
locations
• 72% of offers were
opened
• 35% were redeemed

51. IN STORE SH OPPIN G AID S
Lowe‟s uses companion features such as
delivery/pick-up method and item locator

52. IN STORE TOOLS

53. MOBILE AND FR EE SH IPPIN G

54. MOBILE PROD U C T LISTIN G ADS
On Oct 17th Google updated the look of
mobile PLAs on the SERP
If you are not opted-in to mobile in your
PLA campaigns, time to test or re-test it

55. APPS: KEEP TH E GOOD TIMES GOING
Interest in apps has peaked between
Christmas & New Years for the last 3
holiday seasons

56. C LICK TO INSTALL AD S
Have a mobile app? Your peak is from
Christmas to New Years. Take advantage
of this time to make a strong push
• Mobile Ad Extensions on Google Search
• In-app click to install products
(AdMob, inMobi, etc.)
• New Facebook App ad formats

57. N EW FACEBOOK APP AD S
App Ads for Installs & App Engagement Ads

58. SOC IAL IN FLU EN C E

59. SOCIAL INFLU EN C E
• 67% purchase a gift they found on social
media
• 65% of shoppers use social media to find
the perfect gift
• 54% use social media while shopping in
stores
• 44% discover holiday deals through peer
recommendations
• 25% say peer recommendations on
Facebook and Twitter are the leading driver
of holiday purchases (runner-up TV
commercials at 13%)

60. SOCIAL INFLU EN C E

61. SOCIAL SALES
Social media played a very small part in
driving revenue in 2012, with most retailers
expecting it to drive less than 5% of sales
this year
• Facebook ad formats and targeting has
vastly improved year over
year, suggesting better performance
may be ahead

62. FACEBOOK FOR MATS
• The introduction of newsfeed “dark
posts” has led to huge performance
gains in 2013, greatly outperforming
sidebar placements
• Leveraging FBX as another retargeting
medium has been very successful
• Mobile CPCs are still low compared to
mobile search

63. FACEBOOK FOR MATS

64. FACEBOOK: C U STOM AU D IENCES
Another area of opportunity to use are
Custom Audiences
• Target current customers with specific
messaging and offers to aid brand
loyalty
• Use lookalike audiences based on past
purchasers to reach relevant, new
people

65. THE INFLUEN C E OF TWITTER
1.9x more retailers on Twitter y/y
“Twitter has become an essential way for Target to
give our guests the inspiration and ideas they crave
whenever they’re in the mood to shop,”
- Shawn Gensch, SVP of Marketing, Target
With more retailers turning to Twitter, expect
more customers to directly reach out to these
companies for various reasons

66. THE INFLUEN C E OF TWITTER

67. LOOKIN G TO 2014

68. C ONTINUING TR EN D S
• 2013 will be the biggest holiday season ever…
the growth will continue next year
• Online sales growth will continue to outpace instore growth
• Mobile and Social will continue to play an
increasingly important role, this puts more
emphasis on the need for attribution
• As more dollars shift online, new and improved
ad products will continue to drive efficiency for
advertisers

69. GOOGLE SHOPPIN G C AMPAIGNS
Open to a limited number of advertisers
through Q4, complete roll-out in 2014
• Streamlines PLA management
• Ability to create custom labels
• Provides advanced reporting
• Competitive data
• Basically… more like regular search!

70. GOOGLE SHOPPIN G C AMPAIGNS

71. BING PRODUC T AD S
Currently open to limited advertisers through Q4

72. PINTEREST AN D IN STAGR AM ADS

73. KEYS TO WIN N IN G TH E
H OLID AYS

74. KEYS TO WIN N IN G TH E H OLIDAYS
1. Analyze your data… know it inside and out!
2. Utilize all ad formats at your disposal
3. Timing is critical; create a roadmap for all
channels, across all devices
4. These are year-round improvements, the
holiday season only exaggerates their
importance.

75. D ON‟ T BE THIS

76. BE THIS!

77. The Online Super Bowl
Keys to Winning the Holidays
Mason Garrity
Account Director, 3Q Digital
mason@3qdigital.com
@masongarrity
@3qdigital