Heading into the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, half of retailers surveyed by Shop.org indicated they will increase their use of social media platforms for marketing purposes this holiday season, with most citing Facebook and Twitter.
For at least a few moments on Cyber Monday, that didn”™t much matter after Twitter”™s home page displayed a message that read “Twitter is over capacity. Too many tweets!”
If store tills were not exactly flowing over on Black Friday following Thanksgiving, many online retailers enjoyed a big weekend through the following Cyber Monday.
Online spending on Black Friday totaled $595 million, according to Reston, Va.-based comScore Inc., an 11 percent boost last year and the second highest single total this year.
Through November 27, holiday season online spending was up 3 percent to $10.6 billion. Five companies surpassed four million visits on their websites ”“ Amazon, Apple Inc., Best Buy, Target Corp. and Walmart ”“ with Apple leading the pack as ranked by year-over-year increases at 39 percent, and Target trailing with a 3 percent increase.
Â
“While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, in a prepared statement. “Cyber Monday ”“ the traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season ”“ and the subsequent weeks will be the real test for how online retailers fare this season.”
Â
Dress Barn Inc., the Suffern, N.Y.-based chain founded in Stamford, is using both Facebook and Twitter for the first time this holiday season to promote its wares.
“We launched our direct-to-consumer e-commerce site in early October,” said Lisa Rhodes, a company merchandising officer. “The initial month has produced encouraging results and we look forward to the learning we will gain in our first holiday season online.”
ComScore and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce differ on trends this year in online shopping, with comScore indicating it has dropped each quarter since the fourth quarter last year, and the federal government tracking a rise between the first quarter and the second quarter.
While not all categories of consumer products have been off ”“ both books and electronics were up 2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier ”“ other products that find their way into gift boxes this time of year were down significantly, including movies, toys and clothing.
Also flourishing are invitation-only “e-luxury” sites like Gilt Groupe, HauteLook, and Ideeli, which all have more than doubled their unique visitor counts in the past year, according to comScore.
Â
ComScore does not count travel spending in its annual assessments of holiday spending, but vendors like Norwalk-based Priceline.com Inc. are also experimenting with social media, though spokesman Brian Ek said Priceline.com has yet to comprehensively analyze the impact of social media on its promotions.
Â
“We think the predominant value in social media involvement for a company is learning the various media, how they”™re evolving, and what works and doesn”™t in each environment,” Ek said. “You”™ll see Priceline.com participating with Facebook, Twitter and blogging.”
Ek said Priceline.com does not typically see significant activity on Cyber Monday.
“Smart travelers will get online soon, though, for their December airline tickets,” he said. “December 4 is the last date for someone to buy a Christmas air ticket at the 21-day advance purchase discount. Once that date passes, fares will most likely start to go up.”
ComScore indicated bargain hunters were out in force, with websites offering coupons seeing a 17 percent increase in traffic.
Norwalk-based Webloyalty Inc. helps companies manage such promotions, though it and two competitors in Norwalk have recently come under fire for their use of membership clubs to help corporate clients draw customers, an online tactic that has drawn the scrutiny of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
Vistaprint Ltd., a provider of free business cards and other personalized items, announced late last month it would terminate the membership programs it has offered through an affiliate of Norwalk-based Vertrue Inc. Sen. Jay Rockefeller has similarly criticized the business models of Webloyalty and Affinion Group, which also is based in Norwalk.
