Hitwise (a division of Experian) reported this week that online searches for Black Friday advertising websites are up earlier than the prior two hears and higher than the previous to years - 52% higher than 2006 for the week ending November 10, 2007. Additionally, searches for "black friday ads" are up 91% compared to 2006 and have increased 954% since 2005. Retailers who are seeing the biggest bump in traffic from black friday advertising websites during the same week are Walmart, Sears and Best Buy (2006 leaders were Best Buy, Sears and Circuit City). 
Hitwise maintains a Retail Index 100 which also showed an increase in traffic of 7% during the week ending November 10th with Amazon, Walmart and Target taking the top three spots. But perhaps most interesting is Hitwise's list of the most popular search terms driving traffic to the websites in its shopping and classifieds category. For the week ending November 10, 2007, the most popular searches were:
Top Brand Searches
- eBay
- Craigslist
- Walmart
- eBay.com
- Target
- Best Buy
- Amazon
- Amazon.com
- Sears
- Craigs list
Top Product Searches
- iPod
- Wii
- Uggs
- Ugg boots
- iPod touch
- Xbox 360
- Ugg
- iPod nano
- Playstation 3
- iPods
Looks like Uggs, iPods and video games are the most popular gifts this holiday season, and people are shopping not just at traditional online and offline retailers, but auction and sales sites like eBay and Craigslist are also seeing high traffic this holiday season.
What do these results tell us? First, with the economy in the toilet, people are looking for bargains early to help them extend their holiday gift-giving budgets. Second, word has gotten out about the ease of finding early deals on Black Friday advertising websites. Third, more people are using the internet to help with their holiday shopping (and probably, other parts of their lives as well).
Bottom-line, retailers need to prioritize online marketing campaigns in their marketing mix to find their target audiences with compelling offers and savings to reach their sales goals this holiday season. The trend in increased use of the web to help users with their holiday shopping is growing exponentially, and retailers who learn to leverage that growth early will be the market leaders of the future.
Read more about Walmart Black Friday Ads and the Walmart Secret Sale Website on MarketingBlurb.
» A New Twist on Black Friday from MarketingBlurb
Black Friday is almost upon us, and the internet is overflowing with Black Friday ads, news and information. In fact, the buzz started weeks ago. This year, consumers have been searching earlier and more frequently for Black Friday deals.&n... [Read More]
Tracked on: November 19, 2007 9:30 PM | Permalink to Trackback