All Wrapped Up

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All Wrapped Up
2015 Christmas Holiday Shopping Recap
Table of Contents:
Anatomy of the Season
A Quick Start to the Season
Mobile Momentum Carries the Season
Shopping Carts: The Omnichannel Companion
Incentivizing Shoppers
Key Takeaways from the Season
This report uncovers holiday shopping behavior based on the activity of hundreds of millions of
shoppers during the 2015 Christmas Holiday shopping season in Canada, France, Germany,
the United States and the United Kingdom.
2015 was the year that digital swept retail. Thanks to a fast start to the season, shoppers
placed 28% more orders globally during the 2015 Christmas Holiday shopping season. In
contrast to reports of flat to low in-store sales, digital commerce enjoyed strong traffic growth
of 23%, especially on those traditional in-store shopping days.
Anatomy of the Shopping Season
FREE Shipping Highest Day
2014
2015
Cyber Monday 11/30 88%
53%
Last year, it was 30% larger.
Cyber Monday
8.8%
12/24, 25, 26 - over 50%
Cyber Monday:
17% larger than Black Friday this Year
10.3%
47%
Black Friday
40%
ORDER SHARE BY DAY
25 Highest Traffic Share
%
on Christmas 53
Phone
fic Share
Phone Traf
80% of Orders
Wed. 12/16
5.0%
4.5%
4.0
%
Tues Nov. 24th
Tues Dec. 1st
24%
Tues Dec. 8th
Tues Dec. 15th
Canada
France
Germany
UK 15%USA
14%
39% 39% 10% 20% 32% 28%
Tues Dec. 22nd
16%
13%
Global
DISCOUNT RATE
DISCOUNT
RATE
FREE Shipping
Rate Peak
11/26-11/30
This season features an additional day between American Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thus, the last day featured above reflects
a comparison of Boxing Day 2015 compared with the day after Boxing Day in 2014.
ORDER GROWTH, BY REGION
39%
39%
10%
All Wrapped Up
20%
32%
28%
2
Growth continued after the peak week, though at a slower pace. The week-by-week season view lends some credibility to a
point that many analysts posited – that some sectors within retail, like apparel, may have been restrained by unseasonably warm
weather across North America, as typical winter purchases like outerwear may not have been top of mind for shoppers. Even
though order growth slowed in the two weeks immediately following Cyber Week, it ticked up slightly when Christmas and Boxing
Day drew near, as shoppers made last minute orders.
ORDER GROWTH, YEAR OVER YEAR, BY WEEK
39%
12%
18%
25%
19%
Cyber Week
Post-Peak Period
Mid-Season
Period
Pre-Christmas
Period
Christmas
Boxing Week
* The extra day between American Thanksgiving and Christmas is NOT reflected in the week-by-week view.
The additional day accounts for a roughly 3% increase to the aggregate season’s orders, globally.
A Quick Start to the Season
The big Black Friday shopping storyline was not about raucous crowds or busy parking lots, but about shoppers choosing their
own adventure and shopping on their own terms online. Black Friday orders were up 53% from 2014, as shoppers placed 6
times the number of orders compared to a typical non-peak Friday.
The quick start of the season continued into Cyber Monday, where orders increased 38% year over year. All told, orders were
up 39% over the seven days of Cyber Week, revealing not one big shopping day, but a full week of shopping. The
Cyber Monday peak was only 17% higher than Black Friday this year, down from 30% the year before. These two days combined
represented 50% of the first week’s orders, up from 46% in 2014 and 44% in 2013. Most strikingly, 38% of all holiday shopping
orders were placed during Cyber Week, up from 34% from the prior year. The biggest shopping week just got bigger as shoppers
pulled the season earlier.
ORDER GROWTH, CYBER WEEK (TUESDAY THROUGH CYBER MONDAY), BY REGION
46% 54% 22% 20% 47% 39%
Shoppers exhibited perhaps the most interesting behavior in the days immediately leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday,
where visit growth was higher than the two peak days. In fact, Cyber Week visit growth was lowest on Black Friday and Cyber
Monday (compared to the same days YoY). Then conversion rates jumped on the two peak days, up 27% on Black Friday and
12% on Cyber Monday. Shoppers prepare by browsing and even carting prior to the peak shopping days. Then when
retailers reveal their best offers, shoppers take action and buy.
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3
PEAK SHOPPING WEEK: TOTAL ORDER SHARE BY DAY
Wed.
2015
Wed.
2014
Thurs.
Thurs.
Wed.
2013
Black Friday
Black Friday
Thurs.
Black Friday
Sun.
23%
Sat.
21%
Sat.
Sun.
19%
Sat.
Sun.
Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday
Tues.
27%
Tues.
25%
Tues.
25%
Mobile Momentum Carries the Season
In 2015, phones shifted the shopping arena. Shoppers are no longer tethered to a physical location; they now shop anywhere and
everywhere. For the first time, phone traffic was highest when it mattered most, as share reached 49% on Cyber Saturday and
46% on Black Friday. The biggest mobile days happened at the end of the season, as phone traffic share climbed over 50%
on 3 consecutive days: 50% on Christmas Eve, 53% on Christmas Day and 53% on Boxing Day.
Phones weren’t just browsing tools in 2015. Phone order share reached all-time highs this year, claiming 29% of orders on
Thursday (American Thanksgiving), 33% on Christmas Day and 32% on Boxing Day. The biggest days also saw more action on
phones, as 26% of Black Friday and 22% of Cyber Monday orders came from phones. In total, phones accounted for 24% of
orders and 44% of traffic during the season, up from 16% and 34% the previous year.
PHONE SHARE, BY REGION
Traffic
Orders
46%
40%
39%
44%
43%
38%
32%
23%
21%
17%
Canada
France
24%
19%
Germany
UK
USA
Global
The spike in mobile orders was due certainly to higher traffic levels, but conversion rates from phones increased significantly this
year as well. Cyber Monday mobile conversion was up 27%, peaking late in the evening at 10pm. Shoppers holding phones late in
the evening are most likely to buy.
And while mobile has soared, tablets have continued to falter. Tablet traffic share dwindled to 10% on Cyber Monday and 11% on
Black Friday. Across the entire season, tablet share fell to 11% of visits and 14% of orders, down from 14% and 16% the previous
year. Tablets are being crowded out.
All Wrapped Up
4
Shopping Carts: The Omnichannel Companion
The cart not only shows shopping intent, it also serves as the shopper’s wish list. Thanks 46%
to the rise of mobile,
44%carts have become
43%
the omnichannel40%
utility, providing immediate
access 38%
to saved products wherever the shopper goes, including the store. This
39%
year, shoppers created 31% more baskets and there was a 6% increase in the add-to-cart rate, which paved the way for digital
commerce order growth.
32%
The eve of the two peak season shopping days (the day before Black Friday and the day before Cyber 24%
Monday) saw the biggest
23%
basket growth, underlining the pre-shopping phenomenon
previously mentioned. Carts were more and more mobile this year; the
19%
17%
number of carts created on phones doubled and basket rates on phones soared to 25%. In fact, mobile accounted for
77% of cart growth in the 2015 shopping season.
INCREASE IN CARTS CREATED, BY REGION
On Mobile
Overall
200%
180%
196%
160%
140%
120%
100%
108%
80%
60%
86%
85%
63%
54%
40%
20%
101%
31%
13%
Canada
France
Germany
9%
UK
37%
USA
31%
Global
Incentivizing Shoppers
Shoppers continue to seek out and receive free shipping. This year, 76% of all orders shipped for free, up from 74% during last
year’s peak. On Cyber Monday, 88% of orders shipped for free, surpassing last year’s rate of 83%. There should no longer be
boardroom debates about free shipping, particularly on peak shopping days. Free shipping is a shopper expectation.
Known for deep discounts, the peak shopping season demonstrated discounting in line with recent trends, up nominally year over
year from 17% to 19% and indexing about 25% higher than a non-peak period. Interestingly, post-Cyber Week discounts were
down compared to last year, with discount levels mimicking non-peak levels once Cyber Week had passed.
Post-Cyber Week, the rate of discounting and free shipping was equal or lower to that of the previous year. With the fast start to
the season, retailers may have curbed their promotions for the remainder of the season.
All Wrapped Up
5
Key Takeaways from the Season
1
Shoppers Value
Peace of Mind
2
Shopper-First
Means Mobile-First
3
Cart Power
Shoppers proved that they are eager
This sounds like old news, but far too
Two massive trends are shaping retail:
to shop early in the season, yet patient
many have not taken drastic enough
the rise of mobile and online-to-offline
enough to wait and determine whether
measures to be best on mobile. With
(O2O shopping). Shopping carts sit at
the deal they found is the best. Retailers
mobile traffic passing 50% share on
the center of these trends, as the mobile
beware: don’t burn early shoppers
a number of occasions, retailers must
shopper carries the cart with them
with better deals late in the season,
think shopper-first by being mobile-first.
wherever they go – in store and on the
as the practice of delayed discounting
Retailers should use faster network
move. Retailers should ensure the cart
can alienate shoppers. Instead, savvy
speeds and bigger screens to their
persists and position it as the shopper’s
retailers will clearly communicate offers
advantage by exposing more brand
wish list. Further, providing access
as ‘best’ throughout Cyber Week,
imagery and products on the home
to the cart from marketing channels,
allowing shoppers to buy immediately
page. Retailers should also clearly
including email and display, will drive
with the peace of mind they have the
display key utilities like site search and
traffic right back to the cart and ultimately
best offer when they are ready to buy.
the shopping cart. Product detail pages
to conversion. Finally, using email as
Additionally, retailers should use a sense
can also accommodate alternate views
a cross-device intermediary can help
of urgency to encourage immediate
as well as conversion optimizers like
recognize shoppers as they transition
purchase, noting potential low stock
reviews and user-generated content.
from phone to computer.
levels or limited-availability products.
Shrunken desktop screens and boring
accordion navigations are no longer
acceptable; mobile is the primary way
that shoppers experience a brand.
All Wrapped Up
6
About This Report
This report provides a snapshot of digital commerce metrics, focusing on the busy Christmas Holiday shopping season.
Demandware sourced data for this report from live digital commerce sites transacting on the Demandware Commerce Cloud
during this and last year’s holiday periods, across Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Time of
day has been normalized to the shopper’s local time. Discount rate is calculated as the discount on merchandise purchased and
does not include items already on markdown.
All Wrapped Up and these reported values are not indicative of the operational performance of Demandware or its reported
financial metrics, including GMV growth and comparable GMV growth.
For the analysis, we identified the unique periods that occur before and within the season. Those periods are defined as:
Shopping Season:
Tuesday November 24th to Saturday December 26th
Mid-Season Period:
Tuesday December 8th to Monday December 14th
Cyber Week:
Tuesday November 24th to Monday November 30th
Pre-Christmas Period:
Tuesday December 15th to Monday December 21st
Post-Peak Period:
Tuesday December 1st to Monday December 7th
Christmas and Boxing Day Period:
Tuesday December 22nd to Saturday December 26th
About Demandware
Demandware, the category defining leader of enterprise cloud commerce solutions, empowers the world’s leading retailers to
continuously innovate in our complex, consumer-driven world. The Demandware open cloud platform provides unique benefits
including seamless innovation, the LINK ecosystem of integrated best-of-breed partners, and community insight to optimize
customer experiences. These advantages enable Demandware customers to lead their markets and grow faster.
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© 2016 Demandware, Inc. This document contains archival information which should not be considered current and may no longer be accurate. Approved for unlimited distribution.