E-commerce sales accounted for 4.8 percent of the total sales in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The total e-commerce sales were estimated at $194.3 billion, an increase of 16.1 percent from 2010. Total retail sales in 2011 increased 7.9 percent from 2010.

Graphic provided by US Census Bureau

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Total sales were up 0.2 percent from the previous month and 6.7 percent above November 2010.

The report indicated that online retail sales were up 0.3 percent from October 2011 and 6.8 percent above 2010. However, non-retail sales were up 13.9 percent over November of last year.

E-tailers continue to gain customers as more consumers find shopping online easy and convenient.

Almost $20 billion was spent during the period of November 1 through December 4, 2011 and Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman, predicts that we will see several more billion dollar online spending days as we approach the middle of December.

How Can You Capture Holiday Sales?

Michael Koploy, an ERP Analyst at Software Advice recently posted “Five Strategies to Boost Holiday Retail Sales.” He suggests:

• Using social media to gain followers and instill urgency,
• partnering with mobile shopping apps,
• offering in-store pickup,
• extending your return policy and
• offering free or reduced shipping.

Offer Staggered Discounts

In addition to Koploy’s suggestions, consider offering staggered discounts to your customers. For example, Williams-Sonoma is offering consumers a 10 percent discount on orders totaling over $100 and 25 percent on purchases over $500.

Gift Cards or Discounts on Future Purchases

Another popular incentive is gift cards or discounts on future purchases. L.L. Bean is offering a $10 gift card with a purchase of $50 or more.

Announce Your Promotions

Most importantly, share your promotional offers with your customers. Send an email newsletter stating your seasonal offers, post incentive information on your Facebook page, and display promotions prominently on your website.

Make sure you are doing everything to capture online holiday shoppers. There are only a few weeks remaining until the end of this season’s record e-tail spending.

Graphics by comScore

Three days recorded over $1 billion in spending: Cyber Monday ($1.25 billion), Tuesday, November 29 ($1.12 billion) and Wednesday, November 30 ($1.03 billion). These mark three of the four heaviest online spending days in the history of online retail reporting. Cyber Monday 2010 was the first over $1 billion spending day, with approximately $1.03 billion in online sales.

Free shipping continues to draw online shoppers. Well over 50 percent of the online retail transactions included free shipping. Consumers rate free shipping as an important factor when shopping online. Thirty-six percent of the shoppers surveyed by comScore listed free shipping as “very important, I will not make a purchase without it” and 42 percent marked it as “somewhat important, I actively seek out fee shipping deals.”

Graphics by comScore

Free Shipping Day is slated for December 16, 2011. Last year this was the third heaviest online spending day. To take advantage of this marking opportunity, and capture those last minute shoppers, promote free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve.

Graphic by comScore

The increase in sales can be attributed to the number of buyers and the average spending per buyer. Both of these were up from the previous year. On Cyber Monday, 10 million people bought products online, purchasing an average of 1.9 items per transaction, and spending approximately $125.

Graphic by comScore

Consumers continue to shop while at work. On Cyber Monday, 50.2% of the transactions originated from work computers, while 43.2% came from home.

Cyber Monday 2011 was the second billion dollar online spending day on record; the first was on Cyber Monday 2010.

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As a regular contributor to Ecommerce Developer, Bret has covered many topics on the OpenCart platform. His previous articles include:

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• Localizing OpenCart for Language, Currency

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The negative nature — as well as the conversational intensity — of economic discussions is leading many to predict a very lackluster retailing quarter for the coming holiday shopping season. While overall economic indicators show some spark of recovery, no one is suggesting that shoppers will spend more freely in November and December. And why should they? Anyone who can fog a mirror knows that the economy is hurting. If not from the media, we certainly see this in the unemployment lines, foreclosure signs and “Going Out of Business” sales.

There is a Bright Spot

USA Today is reporting that Moody’s Investors Service predicts that online retailing during the 4th quarter of 2011 will be up 15% over the previous year. Compared with a piddling 3% overall retail increase, you can understand why more and more retailers are focusing on improving their online marketing strategies. I suspect we’ll see much, much more attention paid to Cyber Monday, even from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. Cyber Monday could well be the lifeline for many retailers who need a boost to improve same-store numbers, and satisfy nervous investors.

I’ve always been bullish on online retailing. It’s what convinced me in 1995 that the Internet would be the great retail landscape it is becoming today. Catalog shopping has always been huge in this country, going back over 100 years. It stood to reason that the convenience of online shopping could supplant printed catalogs. What I find fascinating is that retailers are still struggling with how to sell to online shoppers (see The New Target Website).

The Future is Now

What I visioned in 1995 has already happened. We are selling and buying more using the Internet. We are creating personalized shopping experiences through our social networks, blogs and iPads. We are feeling safe about shopping online, and people we considered prudent only a couple of years ago for not shopping online for security reasons, we now consider to be irrational and behind-the-times.

Yet, it will be quite a while before online retailing exceeds offline shopping. In fact, I personally doubt it ever will. Shopping is fun for many people. Shopping trips are a social, communal activity, allowing you the opportunity to see, touch and share in person.

But online shopping will find its important niche within the retail landscape: convenience. Pure and simple, online shopping is convenient. It’s immediate and accessible. And we now understand how it works.

Go Forth and Shop

So, go out and shop. Get up at 4 am on Friday morning after Thanksgiving and shop until you drop. You’ll need more stories to tell the young ‘uns at Christmas dinner. But, if you want to see some amazing bargains this year, as well as round out your gift list with ease, shop online. Get a nice warm mug of hot cider, pull on your snuggie, grab your iPad and shop like it was 2011.

This is the day many online retailers kick-off their holiday season by offering special incentives to their shoppers. And it’s just around the corner; this year it falls on Monday, November 28.

Over 1 billion in 2010

Last year, comScore reported that consumers spent approximately $1.03 billion online on Cyber Monday alone. This was the highest spending day of 2010 and the first ever $1 billion online shopping day.

Have you prepared your site to take advantage of this marketing initiative?

Free Shipping

Can you offer Free Shipping? According to a report by Forrester Research, 55% of consumers expect free shipping for online purchases.

Highlight products that make great gifts, and offer special discounts if possible. Limit the discounts to Cyber Monday only, or extend them through the holiday. Historically, the middle of December also sees a spike in online purchases. If you can extend your specials, there’s a substantial amount of shoppers who choose December to do their buying.

Announce

Be sure to send an email announcement to your customers. Forrester Research reported that 51% of the Cyber Monday online shoppers learned about sales and offers from an email broadcast. Don’t delay. Now is the time to send out your holiday shopping announcement. Remind your customers about your product offerings and give them an incentive to shop with you.

Online Advertising

Don’t forget to make adjustments to your AdWords campaign. According to Google Trends, “Cyber Monday” is a Top 20 search phrase. Be sure to take full advantage of this trend by including “Cyber Monday” in your ad copy and your destination website page. But don’t get caught up in trying to bid for “Cyber Monday” alone.

For example, if your niche is leather widgets, then consider such AdWords phrases as “cyber monday leather widgets,” or “cyber monday sale leather widgets.” Serious shoppers will focus on their searches. Aim to be at the top of those final searches and you’ll convert more sales at less cost.

Success for the Holidays

We wish you a successful holiday season.

From ABC: Americans Get Ready for Holiday Shopping