2006 X’mas: Thumbs up or thumbs down?
For the retail sector, the speculation begins now. What will the holiday shopping season be like? An eMarketer article indicates that this year X’mas shopping will be slower than last year (though it is still expected to grow a bit). Of course, the analysis is based on research from the US market; yet, some of the external factors that affect the US consumer undoubtedly affect consumer trends in the UK.
There are some interesting points in the article: a higher percentage of women seem to be shopping online; consumers are likely to begin shopping a bit later than last year, but not necessarily spend more; and it seems there aren’t any truly exciting or path breaking products that could catalyse sales. Yes, the lack of buzz about any particular product is quite palpable.
However, it is still unclear whether the projected slowdown in offline shopping will benefit online retailers. I would most certainly hope, yes.
Another trend noticed in the UK is the number of people using online auction websites. We’ve experienced the benefits of this trend ourselves as we’ve driven very high volume sales for eBay. According to the APACS, GBP2.8 billion was spent on auction sites last year, 4.9 million adults made their most recent online purchase frm an auction site. Moreover, over 50% of all adults in the country made an online purchase during the year.
So, it seems like we have some mixed / unclear signals at this point in time about what’s in store for the best time of the year for affiliates. I reckon we will have a much better sense in about a month’s time.
