Cyber Monday Hit Biggest Sales Record Ever : $1B

Cyber Monday reached a record-breaking level this year with more than $1 billion dollars spent online, making it the heaviest U.S. online shopping day ever recorded. I would expect the huge E-commerce business opportunity in the future, as you can see the sales during last five years are keeping increase even though during the recession period. 

eHarmony is moving to Asia

           eHarmony.com, a leader of online dating service provider, will launch its first Asia branch in Japan recently. Blogger David Evens Worried about the differences in culture between the US and Japan, and he wonders what changes eHarmony will make in their matching systems based on 29 dimensions of compatibility for Japanese. I remember I had a presentation about the eHarmony for my Marketing class at USC. So basically, customers need to answer more than 400 questions before s/he becomes an official member, and paying 60 bucks monthly. But one of the coolest things is that eHarmony rejects 20% of its potential customers in order to guarantee their outstanding services to existing users. Expending internationally seems a necessary path for companies to be more profitable, but bases on eHarmony currently business model, I would doubt could this company survive in Japan, a country is still keeping many traditional rules toward men and women, and also a country has the lowest divorce rare in the world?

Cyber Monday Sales

            Many consumers are getting more familiar with the term "Cyber Monday" during these years. In fact, in the end of November, 2005, the term was created by "Shop.org" press which release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year". I believe many retailers, especially for E-commerce companies are more glad to use "Cyber Monday" as a marketing promotion to persuade people shop online after Thanksgiving "Black Friday". Now, Black Friday is not an only biggest discount event to those people waiting for a whole year. Many smart consumers know they should just be patient because more products with deeper discounts would come out after weekend. This year, Cyber Monday may have been the heaviest online spending day in history with a record-breaking $1.028 billion in online spending — a 16% jump in spending when compared against the same day last year.

New Businee opportunity

               What we usually do after turkey dinner? "Hard-working" people probably already left from home to get on line outside of shops. Many people like my family just prefer staying at home watching new-released movies. So the those movie rental companies like Netflix would be a best choice because of its fast mailing, and abundant movie resources.

               However, One market segment that Amazon has not yet penetrated is subscription video service just like Netflix. I believe Amazon should add a service where users can stream anything and everything in the Amazon catalog for a monthly or yearly fee.  Amazon already has web technology in place that allows for one time purchases or rentals of streaming movies. Currently, Amazon even offers customers the option of downloading digital copies of music and movies that they have already purchased. This service allows customers to watch films while they wait for the physical discs of movies they have ordered to be shipped. Netflix has already proven that a market exists for a subscription video service, and the Amazon name would add credibility, affordability, and value to such a service.

Black Friday - the biggest shopping day of 2010

happy thanksgiving

          Who would be happy on Thanksgiving day? Students get a long weekend holiday to hang out with friends. Employees can not wait for this day comes, so many of them leave company early on the day before thanksgiving. But the happiest groups of people could be those shoppers got big discounts on black Friday, and of course, the retailers. Amazon.com Inc. Amazon.com says that this black Friday was its biggest-ever record for sales of Kindle devices.  Company also posted on the Amazon Kindle link on Facebook page many days before that on Friday, it will sell its older, second-generation Kindle for $89, which is $10 less expensive than Best Buy. On average, online spending on Black Friday this year increased nearly 16 percent compared with last year, and The  average order value on Black Friday was $190.80, up from $170.19 last year.

E-commerce as the online dating model

The article “Take the Lid off – Secret Spending” from “Money” Magazine tells a very interesting story: some 80% of husbands and wives spent money over the past year without telling their mates. Just by guessing, we probably could figure out that women are hiding those spending for the endless fashion; men usually don’t speak out the alcohol and small appliances. However, this survey found out that husbands tend to spending more money on dating websites, and of course, they keep these secrets.

Old Navy vitual online game

             Now when youth have the uncertainty to purchase clothing from Old Navy, could use the simulated reality of a computer game to refine their dressing ideas before testing apparel in the physical stores. The retailer is very clear about their marketing strategy, and they understand what Old Navy's customers really wants. Launching this game is specifically targeting to major customers, the teenage. At the same time, Old Navy is trying to make sales by promotions and ad placements while creating impressive and enjoyable image for its merchandises offerings, especially with the thanksgiving and Christmas are coming .

             I tried the game today. As part of the game, players can lead a favorite character from movie by passing an entire Old Navy store, choosing virtual Old Navy fashion, similar to that available in-store, and socializing with other game players during the game time. The Old Navy virtual world will mirror the real world in-store experience.Users can enjoy a digital shopping spree, grabbing items for themselves and gifting virtual Old Navy fashion to their Facebook friends, if the holiday season has them feeling generous.

Amazon is not only a store

          Amazon is a very smart company, and they know how to make more money. For Amazon, revenue should not be only limited in the E-commerce model. It now wants to shift the industry back from the exclusive, private world of Hollywood, taking the movie making business to the web instead. The online retailer giant has started a film production website, in which screenwriters and filmmakers can submit scripts and movies. Amazon.com  has also partnered Warner Bros. Studios with this new venture to consider the submitted scripts for commercial feature films. Amazon.com, Inc. today launched Amazon Studios, a new online business that invites filmmakers and screenwriters around the world to submit full-length movies and scripts to make money, get discovered and get their movie made. Through the monthly and annual Amazon Studios Awards, Amazon Studios will offer a total of $2.7 million to the top submissions received by Dec. 31, 2011.

What should BlackBerry do next ?

Recently, I saw an online advertisement from AT&T, which introduced this wireless carrier is now selling a new cell phone designed by Microsoft. Looking back ten years ago, Blackberry was the absolute leader in smart phone industry. People felt so proud when they described self as a Blackberry person.  However, in nowadays, not only iphone takes big marketing shares away, but also Android from Google does so, and plus the windows phone just released recently.  In order to surpass its competitors, I think BlackBerry needs to develop applications that support enterprises and appeal to consumers.  It needs to grow quickly if it wishes to prevent Apple from capturing its current customers.  If RIM can successfully expand its applications, it can attract consumers and retain enterprises, therefore increasing its presence in the market.  BlackBerry has a reliable operating system that is more secure than Google’s Android, but consumers are not aware of it.  By drawing new buyers towards BlackBerry, consumers can experience firsthand the benefits of BlackBerry and contribute to the company’s reputation and popularity.   

BlackBerry should continue expanding to new global markets in order to increase customer base and to stay ahead of competitors such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone.  BlackBerry would be successful in areas where there are limited bandwidth markets and Internet access.

Netflix: Packing DVDs at lightning speed!

That's why we got favorite movies so fast....

E-commerce sales Increase 13.7% in Q3

             According to estimates released recently by the U.S. Commerce Department, during the third quarter of this year, total sales of E-commerce industry increased nearly 13.7% compare to the same period a year ago. The total sales captured 4.2% of national retail sales, a new record for e-commerce.  "Cost conscious consumers also see online shopping as a way to spend wisely," writes Grau in an upcoming report. "They can go to coupon sites and shopping blogs and communities to learn about bargains. They can also research purchases to find cheaper alternatives."
             The 13.7% growth rate for e-commerce sales also is more than double that of total retail sales, which posted 6.0% growth during the third quarter. The U.S. Commerce Department estimates seasonally adjusted total retail sales during the third quarter were $978.73 billion. “The data underscores yet again the secular shift from offline to online spending,” says Colin Sebastian, an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets. “Despite some lingering macro-level hesitation on consumer spending, e-commerce companies should feel good about this year and the return to growth.”

Black Friday

        Black Friday, an event that many “deal diggers” would excited about, is coming. The term "Black Friday" was originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red) to being in the black on the balance sheet. Those shoppers have limited resources consider to use that day to save money and take advantage from the biggest discounts offered during a whole year.

        In fact, stores encourage people to spend more with discounts on all merchandises from home theater to a towel, or even something with a regular price. Shoppers believe that day is to get holiday purchase completed and pretty beneficial for those who expect this day to come for a long time. However, after these brave shoppers stand in cold from midnight to early morning, and the madness that occurs inside the stores Friday morning, how many people really got nice deals or how many of them spend too many after walking out from the stores?

        For me, I rather want to just stay at home, check the online deals. Smart shoppers shouldn’t forget about online deals that are offered during the Black Friday weekend. And please do remember, we still have a Cyber Monday with a smoother online store access and check out.  

Wanna a high quality or video of the product?

        Last week, I was trying to buy a watch on a website called World Of Watches. Overall, the Pictures of the watches were good, but the one I like it, its picture was so blurred. Although the picture could be zoom in, this image became worse. So I switched to another website, my favorite: Amazon. I like go shopping at Amazon not only for the competitive price, but also the advanced product viewing capabilities. When you ready to buy a product online, how do you like the 360-degree views ; different colors on the product image; zoom-in/out; and the ability to customize your products online? Beside, online shoppers also like to view more carefully about products reviews from other customers before they make any purchase, and sites that not only show an individual shopper information, but also retain the particular product was bought and the prices.

How efficiency are the online advertisements?

        A new research released today indicates online advertisements and search results can be impressive —even if the web page viewers don’t click it.

        

        Interactive agency iProspect and conducted by web measurement firm comScore Inc., examined how consumers' behavior and react when they check  searching engine results, online display advertising, as well as the business paid searching results. This study shows how reading such advertisements or results impacts customer's brand favorability, likelihood to make a decision to buy, to visit a web site, and brand trust. 

        

        Paid search impressions reflects brand favorability by 28% across all search result categories, and it is  highest impact overall to consumers, study found. Paid search impressions are particularly adept at influencing buying behavior, whether they are used alone or in conjunction with other digital media, the study finds. Overall, for E-commerce companies, they should pay attention now since shoppers could be more likely to buy from a company that they have seen in a paid search advertisements, around 44%.