(Online) Window Shopping

It’s never too early to think about the holiday season. In fact, America is quite obsessed with it all year round – ever heard of Christmas in July? So it’s no wonder that retailers think about their holiday revenue all year round. To get noticed, sales and marketing plans must be properly executed at the time everyone is shopping and the competition is cutthroat.

One of the tactics most often used in holiday shopping are window displays. Consumers make entire days or weekend trips centered around holiday shopping, with the biggest draws being window displays. Consumers who never heard of your brand have a good chance of walking into your store simply based on an elaborate holiday window wonderland – but times are changing.

It’s old news that online shopping is the current shopping method of choice. With convenient shipping options and the ability to shop from home, at your kid’s holiday choir recital, and that weekend hockey game makes online shopping the go-to method. But have we as marketers given online advertising enough thought when it comes to executing our holiday marketing plans and budgets? It’s enticing to make a holiday-themed TV commercial that airs between Christmas specials, and while that can be a good singular strategy to build brand awareness, it should not be your only strategy. Embrace your consumers where they are when making purchasing decisions – online! Where else can you build an advertisement a consumer can directly interact with and will take them to the page they can buy the item you’re advertising?

Window shopping, while nostalgic, may be a dying pastime. According to Adweek, 43 percent of shoppers will use their mobile phones for holiday shopping because it is more convenient than going to a store. In the same study by Adweek, 56 percent of shoppers say they will use their mobile phone while shopping in store to research gifts and compare prices – meaning Internet windows are the new window shopping. Will your (Internet) window displays be ready?

If your company is preparing for the holiday shopping season soon, make the most of your marketing dollars and meet shoppers where they are – their mobile phones. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned digital marketing veteran, Quantifi Digital can help you launch effective, measurable, and transparent online video and display campaigns.