Ho Ho Ho....go online and skip the lines

Holiday shoppers are expected to spend $32 billion online this season, with purchases happening well past ground shipping cutoff dates....(what does this say about all those free shipping offers that online retailers are pimpin'?). This is suppose to represent 18 percent increase over last year....

Black Friday!

Ok, so tomorrow is the super huge shopping day. But what about "Cyber Monday"? Both of these are just great examples of marketers making up "events" by talking about themselves.

The other intersting point about tomorrow is how many online retailers are just SPAMMING everyday this week their email lists with promises of discounts or free shipping.....or BOTH! Another example of "empty" offers. Do these emails say anything positive about these companies or their services? Do customers really need a discount if you offer a compling, valuable product/service? Neiman Marcus, Bluefly, Spiegel, Guess...just to name a few have emailed me everyday this week......nothing but noise! And what about FREE Shipping offers? I know first hand that many Online Departments offer FREE Shipping (and I've even seen them offer free EXPRESS shipping) because of a little hidden, secret:

SHIPPING COSTs in many organizations are not tracked on the E-Commerce departments P&L. They are usually absorbed as part of the distribution centers cost. Sales driven markets...trying to show "growth" over the holidays and hitting even higher marks look at Free Shipping as a quick way to say they are offering a compiling customer promotion....when in reality it is just a "cheap" way of them not really coming up with a good reason to "Buy" or "market" what their business really does.