Post-Holiday ’09: what consumers thought, how retailers fared

Talking about Holiday ’09 seems almost a little quaint right now – even if you somehow (miraculously?) escaped the recent frigid temperatures and snow in much of the US, I’ll bet looking ahead, not backward, is top of mind for most. That said, results of the Shop.org annual post-holiday consumer and retailer surveys (conducted in partnership with BIGresearch) are now in, and they make for some interesting reading. The consumer survey results, particularly, offer timely reminders of what is most important to them in online shopping, and not just during the holidays. 

Rather than belabor too much the great nuggets in the summary deck and data summary, I’ll let the results – spanning retailer results, merchandising, marketing, promotions, gift cards, customer service and fulfillment – speak for themselves. As usual, some of the most interesting nuggets are in the retailer comments and answers to our open ended questions:  How were shopping patterns different for Holiday ’09 vs. ’08?  What one thing will you invest in this year for Holiday 2010? (You didn’t really think you could wait until summer to start thinking about holiday again, did you?) What one thing will you do differently for Holiday 2010 than last year?  We also explored how Twitter, Facebook and social media in general impacted this past holiday season – you may recall that at this time last year, numerous retailers were still deciding whether to invest in those media at all. 

If by June you forget that this treasure trove is available to you, I’ll remind you with the 2010 Shop.org Holiday Strategy & Planning Guide, which draws from the complete eHoliday ’09 study. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments about the eHoliday Study or Shop.org research generally.  In the meantime, may the days start to warm a bit wherever you are.