According to Mastercard, ecommerce sales continued to gain ground on traditional in-stores sales making up more than 14% of all online sales (up 18% compared to 2018) throughout the holiday season. Ecommerce and digital continues to grow throughout the holiday, even in spite of a shortened holiday season across November and December.
As we posted in our Thanksgiving POV, we did not see a huge traffic and revenue uptick over the first wave of holiday shopping (November). With that said, as we moved into December and closer to the holiday crunch, there was a large uplift in SEO that helped shape a successful season for our clients. To give you a full overview of this past season, we’ve listed out some of the holiday highlights we saw through the days leading up to Christmas Day and then thereafter (December 26th and 27th).
Weekend Holiday Sales One of the Highest Trafficked Periods December 20 – 22
Many experts predicted the weekend before Christmas and during Hanukkah (starting on December 22nd) to be one of the biggest holiday periods for consumers. Recent analysis by Verizon, showed 15% to 20% uplift in sales online year-over-year (YoY) for this period.
December 23rd: “One of the Biggest Organic Success Days during the Holiday”
According to Verizon Retail Holiday Index, online shopping traffic YoY jumped 16% compared to 2018. For Organic clients at iProspect, this was one of the busiest days of the December shopping season. Additionally, having two page holidays -- Christmas and Hannukkah -- coincide with this timeframe definitely helped boost holiday consumer behavior.
December 24th: A Good Holiday Present for Online Retail and Organic Search
According to the previously mentioned Verizon Retail Index, traffic nearly doubled compared to December 23rd, with a 32% increase in consumer traffic to retail sites. For iProspect, December 24th also proved to be successful for clients.
December 26th and 27th: Largest Post-Holiday Days of the Year
According to Oracle, it is estimated that 8 out of 10 consumers would return a gift after the holidays. While that may have happened in-store, online Organic search saw a strong uptick in traffic and revenue post-Christmas by consumers. Additionally, the Kwanzaa holiday started on December 26th, which also contributed to increased traffic and sales. In hindsight, having post holiday sales rush, the start of Kwanzaa and mid point of Hannukah definitely contributed to more traffic and sales activity.
Key Takeaways
- Organic Search is still a strong driver and influencer of shopping during the holiday season
- Brands should make sure when creating a holiday media and investment strategy that Organic search is a big part of that plan
- Remember to plan ahead with SEO, especially with evergreen pages and non-brand content you want to be present for users during the holiday season – these plans should be created and optimized at least four to six months ahead of time, meaning 2020 holiday planning should begin as early as this coming June!
