Given the state of the economy, there was particular interest this year in Cyber Monday activity. Would consumers return to work after a long holiday weekend and head online to shop in levels similar to what we saw in prior years? Our data shows they did just that – and then some. Traffic to Nielsen Online’s eShopping Holiday index increased 10% compared to Cyber Monday 2007, with Amazon, Best Buy and Sears showing double-digit increases in unique visitor versus last year. See our full release summarizing Cyber Monday results.
When details of the global financial crisis overtook the headlines in mid-September, consumers and brands began assessing their position in the economy and strategizing for the downturn. Retailers have reacted by announcing plans to offer deep discounts for the holidays, from high-end to mass-merchandise. Some have rolled out deals in advance of Black Friday. With reports of more and better deals from retailers and a bleak economic outlook for consumers, it would be natural to assume that consumers are hungry to take advantage of opportunities to save money. But will consumers tighten their belts so much that even deep discounts won’t get them spending?
Websites focusing on coupons and rewards historically prove to be popular places for consumers to learn about and share information on current discounts, but consumers didn’t rush to coupon sites in the weeks immediately following initial news of the economic fallout. In fact, traffic to coupon and rewards sites trends downward through much of October. As Black Friday nears, consumers are taking an increased interest in coupons and deals, shown by the graph below. Traffic to coupon sites is trending upward sharply in the first two weeks of November. The graph shows that nearly 21 million unique consumers visited a coupon or deal site during the week ending November 9.
While we don’t know what this means for retailer’s bottom lines and Q4 earnings, we do know that a growing number of consumers are online educating themselves about discounts and deals as the holidays approach.
