Doorbusters & Mousebusters

How important is your online retail presence? Just ask the Mercent eCommerce Index. Mercent measures year-on-year (YOY) same-seller online gross merchandise value. According to their data, the 24-hour period beginning late Thanksgiving Day 2009 saw a 33% overall growth relative to last year's sales (EarthTimes.org). While physical stores reported minimal (if any) increase over last year's economy-drained holiday shopping season, it appears online stores enjoyed a healthy surge.

That was certainly the case with Amazon, who ranked #1 in Black Friday online sales. As for Cyber Monday, Akamai, another eCommerce tracker, claims that 4.3 million consumers per minute visited shopping websites in North America, lured by large discounts and slashed shipping fees (CNN Money). Whether it is the convenience of the internet or the perception that the best deals are always online, customers continue to search for their wants and needs with a mouse.

That's great for Amazon, but you may wonder how it affects your business. As customers continue to have positive retail experiences online, and as the general public becomes more comfortable with website shopping carts, they are more likely to trust online businesses when it comes to their bigger needs.

If you missed this year's Cyber Monday energy, consider letting Anttix help you update your storefront appeal for 2010. As the economy gradually picks up and the holidays rapidly approach once again, you will be in a prime position to take advantage of the market.