Retailers Expect to Hit Sales Climax Today, Christmas eDay
~ Christmas sales set to increase 15 per cent in 2006, Coremetrics calls for retailers to get online house in order to reap festive rewards ~
London, December 4, 2006: Today (Monday, December 4) has been identified as eDay, the key day for festive online shopping.
According to web analytics provider, Coremetrics, and using its industry benchmarking solution; LIVEmark, record levels of consumers will today be logging on and snapping up Christmas gifts online. This surge in online retailing is expected to boost online festive sales by an additional 15 per cent(1) compared to last year's holiday season.
Online shopping is set to reach £7 billion in the ten weeks leading up to Christmas(2) and e-commerce businesses will generate between 20 to 40 per cent of their annual revenues and profits during the holiday season(3). Coremetrics believes the online sales opportunities are there for the taking and is warning companies to be prepared for the online sales rush or risk missing out on festive revenue.
"eDay comes as consumers really get the festive spirit and embark on Christmas shopping in full force. Shoppers have also learnt that early ordering pays off and shopping well before Christmas delivery deadlines is a must," said Frank Lombos, regional vice-president at Coremetrics.
"As online sales are set to reach even higher records this year, online businesses not only have to be prepared for sites to be besieged with traffic but also be ready to collect valuable data about customer behaviour. The festive shopping spree is a critical time for many retailers and those failing to capture online information will be missing a trick," he concluded.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Forecast methodology
Coremetrics' forecast is based on actual data from its LIVEmark benchmarking service. Coremetrics projected the 2006 holiday season based on the growth curve of the 2005 holiday season and on 2006 year-to-date data. Coremetrics believes forecasts based on LIVEmark data will be extraordinarily accurate because Coremetrics relies on "bottoms-up" forecasting based on detailed, up-to-date data from individual companies. By contrast, research analysts traditionally do "top-down" forecasting based on broad macro trends that may be difficult to predict far in advance.
About LIVEmark
The LIVEmark benchmarking service, launched in March 2005, currently consists of over 200 of the largest eCommerce brands in the United States and the United Kingdom. LIVEmark currently provides thirty-five benchmarking metrics. The metrics are available for the entire group of LIVEmark participants, and for fourteen unique retail sub-verticals. LIVEmark is not exclusive to Coremetrics clients; it is available to the entire retail industry. In addition, Coremetrics is expanding LIVEmark to the travel, financial services, and content verticals. Organisations who wish to access LIVEmark data must contribute their own data, anonymously, to the benchmark.
About Coremetrics
Coremetrics is the leading provider of on-demand web analytics and precision marketing solutions, offering the industry's only web analytics platform that captures and stores all customer and visitor clickstream activity to build LIVE (Lifetime Individual Visitor Experience) Profiles. Representing the single most accurate and comprehensive source of online customer data, LIVE Profiles serve as the foundation for all successful digital marketing initiatives. Coremetrics services more than 850 brands and has delivered over $300 million in documented ROI in the past two years. Coremetrics is also the integrated web analytics solution for IBM WebSphere Commerce, delivering a best-of-breed multichannel business analytics solution. The company is privately held with funding from Accel Partners, FTVentures, and Highland Capital Partners and is headquartered in San Mateo, California. To learn more about Coremetrics, visit www.coremetrics.com or call 01753 272 222.
Coremetrics has strongly supported online privacy since its inception. To learn more, visit www.coremetrics.com/privacy.
(1) Forecast data from Coremetrics' LIVEmark benchmarking service that incorporates 200 global e-commerce brands based on 2005 festive data, projected data for 2006 and year-to-date data.
(2) IMRG, November 2006
(3) Forrester Research, 2006
