Social marketing to take a hit over the holidays but mobile shopping still going strong

By

Robin Driver

Published
Nov 2, 2018

Adobe released its US online retail forecast for the holidays on Thursday, highlighting an expected decline in revenues achieved via marketing through social channels, as well as the rise of mobile shopping and blended retail.

 
Social traffic is expected to generate 11% less revenue per visit (RPV) for brands in the fourth quarter of this year compared to Q4 2016, while shoppers are also expected to consult social media 25% less to find gift ideas. Adobe attributes this decline to decreased consumer confidence in these channels in the wake of negative press attention surrounding a number of social networks over the last few months.
 
However, Adobe also predicts that other marketing channels will more than compensate for slipping social traffic. RPV from customers going directly to a brand’s site is expected to grow 36%, and 23% for those using searches. RPV via helper sites such as RetailMeNot and e-mail marketing is also expected to increase 15% and 8%, respectively.

Elsewhere, mobile is fast becoming consumers’ preferred online shopping channel, accounting for 48.3% of visits and 27.2% of revenue. Year over year, mobile revenues are up 11.6%, however, completed orders occur 20% less on mobile devices than on desktop computers, often as a result of customers abandoning carts due to poorly executed mobile checkout experiences.
 
This gap represents $9 billion in lost sales but Adobe also suggested a possible solution, pointing out that shoppers using apps instead of mobile web browsers complete purchases on average twice as regularly.  
 
Retailers with both an online and a brick-and-mortar presence are expected to see a 28% higher conversion rate than their digital-only rivals, largely thanks to two growing customer behaviour trends related to the successful implementation of blended retail. Firstly, buying online and picking up in store has risen 119% since January 2018, growth which rises to 250% for large retailers, while a survey of more than 1,000 US consumers found that 47% are intending to browse products in store before buying online, a figure which increases to 58% among millennials.
 
“As online shopping surges with another record-breaking holiday season, the retailers with compelling websites coupled with physical store locations will have the advantage,” said John Copeland, Adobe’s head of marketing and customer insights, in a release. “Many shoppers want to interact with retailers’ products and the brand in-store, and the ability to pick up online orders in-store within a matter of hours can’t be underestimated.”
 
Voice-assisted shopping was also pointed out as an interesting growth channel, with 21% of surveyed consumers saying that they were planning on using their voice-activated devices to reorder items they frequently buy and a further 17% stating that they would use them to make one-time purchases.
 
Cyber Monday is expected to become the largest and fastest growing online shopping day of the year, hitting a record $7.7 billion in sales, a 17.6% increase compared to 2017.
 
Adobe’s full list of online shopping predictions for holiday 2018 in the US can be consulted on the company’s website.