Thoughts and Observations from Shop.org in Las Vegas

I know the slogan is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, but I am going to tell you anyway.

• The unsettling news that continues in the economy and the financial markets was a topic of conversation amongst many retailers and vendors.  I am not sure anyone knows what to expect over the next few months.  Hopefully we can see some settling down as we approach the holiday season.  The consumer, for the most part, has been pretty resilient during this economic cycle.  It is going to be important to the holiday season that there are not many more events that unsettle consumers.
  
  
• Generally the mood seems to be cautiously optimistic about the upcoming online holiday season, assuming we don’t have any (or too many) more unsettling events. Most, if not all, of the hopeful growth this holiday season will come from the online channel.
  
  
• Consumers will do more research online to make sure they are wisely spending their dollars.  The “merged channel” is what consumers are demanding and most multi-channel retailers understand this.  There are more and more merging of the channels by retailers.
  

• Mobile as a complimentary channel is still in the very early days, and while we will probably see increased use of it this holiday season, it will still be minimal.  But, retailers should start thinking about the impact on their business if consumers are walking up and down their aisles while they comparison shop on their mobile.
  

• Online retailers clearly have the attention of senior management.  This brings more visibility, more budget and more accountability.  There seemed to be more senior management, with responsibilities beyond the web, attending shop.org then I have seen before. Another sign of the recognition of the growing importance of the web channel.
  
  
• Many retailers are shifting their ad budgets significantly online, better matching their marketing spend with the growth of the channel.
  
  
• While retailers are getting much better at utilizing metrics, there are still too many retailers that put too much focus on the wrong metrics, and these “wrong” metrics can be very misleading!  Conversion rate is a good example.  Many times a declining conversion rate is a result of successful performance.  That will give you something to think about...and if you want to know more about it...let me know.

Comments

[sale darkfallgold]

This brings more visibility, more budget and more accountability. There seemed to be more senior management, with responsibilities beyond the web, attending shop.org then I have seen before.

[aion kinah]

Many thanks for this great article.