Holiday Sales Trends and How to Profit From It

There’s no better times than the holidays… not just from a personal perspective, but also for running a business and making money online! The amount of money that people spend during the holidays is quite ridiculous and this year’s spending has been breaking records, as people are spending more than ever! It doesn’t matter what the economy looks like, people still want to shop and buy things for themselves and others. Knowing what products people are buying is the difference between having a killer holidays season for sales, and missing out on the next big thing.

Through holiday sales figures, you can get an inside look on what the hottest toys, games and products are going to be, and how you can start making money with each. Let’s break down a few different places that you can start using when doing your holiday due diligence. Even if you missed out on the massive buying this holiday season, you always have next year… and the year after, and after!

Amazon is Your Friend

The business of Amazon.com just keeps growing and getting better every year. While it’s a customers dream to log on to their web site and be able to order virtually anything they can think of at discounted prices, it’s just as much of a dream work for online marketers.

When Christmas and the Holidays come around, Amazon.com is ready and they are cranking out the top / most wanted gifts like crazy. Even when it isn’t the holidays, you can still browse through their web site and break down virtually any type of product or brand in the order that they are selling best.

Internal Ad Networks and Consumer Buying Trends

Amazon isn’t the only place you need to visit to see what people are buying. There are plenty of ad management companies out there that are willing to share their data and buying trends that they are seeing on their back end. VigLink, a contextual marketing company, has compiled a few lists of their top 10 best selling products during the holiday season. Since they are currently serving ads across millions of web sites, they can weed out what products are selling and getting the most clicks.

• Top 10 Mobile Devices for the Holidays
• Top 10 Gaming Consoles for the Holidays
• Top 10 Hottest Kids Toys for the Holidays

After looking through the lists, you will notice that many of the top selling products are brand names and items that are top performers every years, such as Apple/iPhone, Video Game Titles, Barbies and Movies related Toys. Building a niche web site for each of these products or brands can deliver holiday traffic and sales year after year.

As a holiday promotion, if you register and install VigLink before Dec 15th, you’ll be entered to win one of the top 2 products on each list that are featured on the top selling holiday products that were listed above.

National Sales Reports & Buying Trends

As you can see, nearly all of the shopping and advertising companies already do the work for you when it comes to reporting what the best selling items are, and the forecast from buyers during the pre-Christmas holidays. Know where people prefer to shop online and where they feel safest with their order processing, can play a huge part in your overall marketing efforts and conversions.

Just take a look at some of the highlights and stats provided by the retail industry and news/research organizations.

Black Friday Weekend Sales Results According to the National Retail Federation (NRF):

• $52.4 billion was spent over Black Friday weekend
• 226 million shoppers were in stores or on websites making purchases over Black Friday weekend
• Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers spent an average of 9.3% more in 2011 than the same weekend in 2010

Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday Online Sales Results, According to market research firm ComScore:

• $816 million was spent online on Black Friday 2011, which was a 26% increase over black friday 2010
• $479 million was spent online on Thanksgiving Day 2011, which was an 18% increase over Thanksgiving Day 2010
• Year-over-year Cyber Monday sales were up 22% in 2011, when compared to Cyber Monday 2010

Cyber Monday 2011 Results According to IBM Smarter Commerce:

• Year-over-year Cyber Monday sales were up 33%
  The average purchase amount was $198.26, 2.6% higher than the Cyber Monday purchase average for 2010

Cyber Monday 2011 Internet and Mobile Shopping Results According to IBM’s Cyber Monday Benchmark Report:

• 11% of shoppers used a mobile device for their Cyber Monday shopping, an increase of 3.9% over Cyber Monday 2010
• 6.6% of all Cyber Monday purchases made on Cyber Monday 2011 were made from mobile devices
• The Apple iPad was the mobile platform which generated the largest number of retail sales on Cyber Monday
• The percentage of sales from mobile devices was higher on Black Friday 2011 than on Cyber Monday 2011 (9.8% and 6.6% respectively)
• Online shopping peaked at 2:05 PM EST on Cyber Monday (during regular working hours for most)

Did You Miss Out This Year?… It’s Not Too Late!

With Christmas just a couple weeks away, it’s probably too late for your to make a big pay day this year, but don’t get discouraged. With many customers still relying on last minute buying and still unable to get some of the hottest products of the year, getting creative and advertising through social networks like Facebook Ads, can get your ad campaigns and web stores right in the face of potential buyers.

If social advertising isn’t your forte, and you are more focused on web sites and ecommerce, take what you’ve learned from this year’s sales figures and put them into action for next year. Everyone is looking for coupons and review sites. Look at the top selling products for the past five years, and many of these items will be top sellers again next year.

The bottom line is, many businesses are built around the concept of making a ton of their money during the holidays, and if this isn’t one of your focuses, you need to see what you are missing out on.