Recalling fond memories of holiday shopping as a boy from the Sears Wish Book, Rusty Warner, SVP of Marketing for SDL, noted that holiday marketing was a lot less complicated in 1966. Warner presented during the second session of the Retail TouchPoints Holiday Connected Consumer Series, taking place September 16-19.
During the webinar, titled: 5 Ways to Boost Holiday Marketing Revenue with Big Data, Warner shared success stories from Australia-based Specialty Fashion Group (SFG) and Dave & Buster’s, as well as an international pizza franchise and an online florist. With a better understanding of customer data, SFG was able to boost email open rates by 44%, while Dave & Buster’s saw a sales increase of $50 million, up from $2 million, using targeted emails.
Warner noted that despite technological advances, it is still imperative that marketing messages to resonate with consumers. “Marketing messages have to be relevant and compelling enough for the customer to open a catalog, visit store or click though to a web site.”
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Citing SDL’s 2012 report, Preferences on Holiday Shopping Experiences, Warner said that online search was the most influential source for U.S. holiday shoppers at 49%, with in-store at 43.2% and the retailer’s web site at 39.1%. He also reported that social media was the least influential channel for gift selection and recommendations, according to survey respondents, but he expected that trend to shift.
“The key takeway message is that during holidays, understanding and engaging with consumers based on their preferred channels can create experiences they value not only during the holidays but year round,” Warner said. “Having the right customer insight is vital during the holidays. Consumers have money to spend. It is just a matter of where they will spend it.”
Click here to access the on-demand presentation, and register to attend four other Holiday Connected Consumer Series sessions, either live or on-demand.
