Holiday Shipping Deadlines Expire Soon
According the 2006 eHoliday Mood Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shopzilla and Shop.org, customers have about one week left to shop online with shipping guarantees. The study, which polled 76 online retailers, found the number of retailers guaranteeing that standard shipping orders placed by Dec.18-19, will be delivered by Christmas (39 percent), up from 19 percent last year, despite there being one less business day to ship merchandise this year due to Christmas falling on a Monday rather than a Sunday.
Approximately one-third (32 percent) of retailers’ standard shipping deadlines are Dec. 15, 16 or 17, while 23 percent are Dec. 14 or earlier. A small group of retailers (6 percent) are pushing the envelope, saying final standard shipping orders can be placed Dec. 20 or later.
According to the study, catalogs are the most successful offline tool to generate online sales, with 38 percent of retailers rating catalogs as the most successful tool for increasing revenue. Catalogs also resonate with consumers: More online shoppers typically use printed catalogs to research products and buy online (43 percent) than use them to research and order products from the catalog (24 percent).
As expected, online retailers are seeing big gains this holiday season. According to the survey, 25 percent of online retailers said their holiday sales are at least 50 percent higher than last year at this time. Another 26 percent said holiday sales have grown 25-49 percent over last year. In addition, 68 percent of online retailers said the average order value has increased over last year, and 85 percent said site traffic has increased over last holiday season.
Consumers who plan to shop online this year say they will do so to avoid crowds (72 percent) and lines in retail stores (58 percent) and because they believe it is easier to compare prices (52 percent).
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