Press Releases

Coremetrics Reports Scattered Bright Spots Amid Black Friday
Online Spending
– Report Shows Online Department Stores, Gift Stores, Health and Beauty Retailers and Jewelry Stores Are Early Winners in Online Holiday Shopping

SAN MATEO, Calif., December 1, 2008 – The online retail sector in general registered drops in ecommerce activities on Black Friday 2008 compared to the same period last year according to Coremetrics, the leading provider of digital marketing optimization solutions. The number of page and product views across the online retail sector in general was down 8.55 and 8.29 percent respectively compared to Black Friday 2007, suggesting that online retailers are doing a poor job of directing people to browse through their selection of products. The 18 percent drop in average session length also demonstrates that retailers are struggling to keep customers on their sites. Retailers are having difficulty in converting visitors to buyers, as evidenced by weakness in shopping cart and order sessions percentages. The notable exceptions among online retailers were department stores, gift stores, health and beauty stores and jewelers, all of whom registered encouraging increases in the number of consumers who completed online purchases.

Retail Summary

  Black Fri 2008   Black Fri 2007   % Change   Analysis  
 

Shopping cart sessions

Out of all sessions,
the percentage in
which visitors placed
at least one item in
their shopping cart

 10.80%   10.75%   0.47%   The number of people who put items in their shopping carts rose by nearly 0.5 percent.  
                   
 

Order sessions

The percentage of sessions in which
visitors completed
an order

 3.49%   3.55%   -1.69%   The number of people who actually completed a purchase dropped by 1.69 percent. This number combined with the one above it suggests retailers are having a hard time convincing people to make a buying decision.  
                   
 

Average time on site

The average length
of time a visitor
spends per session

 517.27   632.33   -18.20%   Consumers devoted nearly 20 percent less time to online shopping, suggesting shorter consumer attention spans and a more focused approach to shopping.  
                   
 

Average items per
order

Average number of
items purchased per
order

 4.56   4.45   2.54%   People are actually buying 2.54 percent more items per online order than last year.  
                   
 

Average order value

Average value of
each order

 $126.04   $134.29   -6.15%   While consumers are buying more items per order, the average value of their orders dropped by more than 6 percent. This suggests a strong preference for lower-cost bargains.  
                   
 

New visitor
conversion rate

Out of all visitor
sessions, the
percentage that
completed an
order

 2.27%   2.61%   -13.03%   Retailers in general did a poor job of converting traffic to their sites into paying customers, with a 13.03 percent drop from last year.  
                   
 

On-site search session

Out of all sessions,
the percentage in
which visitors used
on-site search
capabilities

 18.44%   17.50%   5.37%   The more than 5.3 percent jump in on-site search suggests that shoppers are taking the time to hunt for bargains. This figure can serve as a proxy for offline bargain hunting behavior too.  

 

Retail Categories

  • Department Stores were big winners on Black Friday, with a 12 percent increase in order sessions, a whopping 30 percent increase in average items per order, and 10 percent increases in average order value and in shopping cart conversion rate. These numbers suggest that department stores, more than niche retailers, succeeded in finding the right merchandizing formula for converting casual browsers into buyers.
  • The Gifts sub-vertical registered an increase of more than 5 percent in shopping cart sessions and an astonishing 57.38 percent jump in orders session. The average number of items per order went up 6.50 percent, average order value went up 1.53 percent, and new visitor conversion rate went up 2.08 percent.
  • The Health and Beauty sub-vertical saw an increase in the percent of browser and shopping cart sessions (6 percent and 10 percent respectively), as well as in average order value (10 percent). These increases suggest increased interest among consumers in “little luxuries,” a willingness to spend on small, feel-good indulgences as opposed to more expensive splurges.
  • The Jewelry sub-vertical experienced a large increase in shopping cart sessions (80 percent) and order sessions (36 percent), suggesting that their target shoppers may be more insulated from the economic downturn than consumers at large.

Quotes
“These numbers show that it’s possible for retailers to be successful even in a tough economy if they take the time to understand what is motivating their customers,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics. “Early results show that department stores and gifts retailers did an outstanding job of attracting customers and of merchandising products that broadly appealed to consumers. In both of these sub-verticals consumers spent less time using onsite search engines – down 4.31 percent for department stores and 2.13 percent for gift stores compared to last year – suggesting that early and aggressive promotions offered by retailers are working.”

Source
These findings are based on data from Coremetrics Benchmark™, the industry’s only peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including commerce data, against those of the competition. More than 300 leading U.S. retailers, representing approximately $20 billion in revenues annually, contribute their analytics data to Benchmark. All data is aggregated and anonymized. Abercrombie & Fitch, Alibris, Bloomingdale’s, Coldwater Creek, L’OCCITANE, Macy’s, PETCO and REI are just a few of the participating companies.

Coremetrics Benchmark comes standard with Coremetrics Analytics for no additional cost.

Attachments
1. Complete Coremetrics Black Friday Benchmark Report
2. Press FAQ
3. Black Friday video

About Coremetrics
Coremetrics is the leading provider of digital marketing optimization solutions. Its solutions generate high return on online marketing investment and continue to pay daily dividends in improved marketing performance. Over 1,200 online business sites, transacting over $15 billion this year, are now using Coremetrics’ Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to optimize online marketing efforts. Coremetrics’ solutions encompass advanced online analytics and precision marketing applications, including search engine bid management, email marketing and cross sell applications to acquire customers more cost effectively, increase conversion rates, and increase lifetime customer value. The company is privately held with funding from 3i, Accel Partners, FTVentures and Highland Capital Partners, is headquartered in San Mateo, California and competes with Omniture and Webtrends. To learn more about Coremetrics, visit www.coremetrics.com or call 877-721-CORE.

Coremetrics has strongly supported online privacy since its inception. To learn more, visit www.coremetrics.com/privacy.

Media Contacts:
Michela Stribling
Director, Corporate Communications
Tel: (650) 762-1433
Email: mstribling@coremetrics.com

Shelley Risk
Horn Group for Coremetrics
(415) 905-4037
srisk@horngroup.com

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