Online Retailers Readjust for Holiday Season

With a couple of test-runs now under their belts, online advertisers are reevaluating their marketing strategies for the 2000 holiday season.

According to an executive survey by Jupiter Research, sixty-four percent of Internet retailers plan to spend the bulk of their ad dollars online vs. offline this holiday shopping season.

Only 21 percent of online retailers plan to advertise in print media and a mere 12 percent will advertise on radio, television and cable TV this holiday season.

According to Jupiter, online retailers who over-spent on holiday advertising last year are taking a far more conservative approach this year, with only 11 percent planning to spend more than half of their ad budget on this year’s holiday season, compared to nearly one-third (29%) last year.

“Marketers have learned from last year’s experience and this year have redistributed their online holiday budget and developed much more targeted and efficient marketing campaigns using more measurable media channels,” says Marissa Gluck, senior analyst, Jupiter Research.

According to Gluck, the holidays are one of the few times during the year when online retailers can focus on service and not on price.

“Although Internet shoppers have been spoiled by discounts in the past, during the holiday season they are more concerned with receiving their orders before the holiday, saving time, and avoiding crowds than they are with saving on price.”

Leading the advertising charge once again in 2000 is top ranked retailer Amazon.com.
The locally based online retailer holds a 15% share of retail advertisements for October and the first two weeks of November, up 8% from last year at the same time. Local company, Corbis, who recently launched their online consumer print and poster store, also made the top ten list, reporting 2% of the retail advertising share.