The headlines yesterday were all about a weak Black Friday, down 5% year over year, according to the National Retail Foundation. Early indications about Cyber Monday, however, were that sales jumped 15% year over year according to Channel Advisor.
Brian Sozzi of Belus Capital Advisors says after years of lagging behind online focused retailers, the old guard is finally getting the hang of selling on the web. That, he posits, is the catalyst ecommerce has been waiting for and the aforementioned 15% growth number has nowhere to go but up.
As consumers flock more and more to the web Sozzi says it’s Amazon, of all companies, that should be looking over its shoulder. “For years, their advantage was getting you the lowest possible price on a mobile device.” Now the Walmarts, Targets, Best Buys and even Home Depots of the world have retooled their sites to compete. Sozzi says Amazon is simply not ready for a slew of new competitors aiming to undercut their pricing.
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“The [traditional retailer] websites are moving a little quicker. Throughout this whole year they invested a ton of money to improve the user experience...This is the first year where you’re seeing the web stores finally being integrated nicely with the physical retailers.”
The other key for brick and mortar retailers making their mark on our phones, tablets and laptops is price matching. If a customer can go to a store, look at an item and have the guarantee that they won’t find it cheaper elsewhere, what is to stop them from buying that item right there and using an app like Walmart’s Savings Catcher to get the price adjusted. It takes Amazon even further out of the equation.
Still, regardless of where customers shop, Sozzi says the data is in our collective favor. “What you have to look at is the total dollar amount people are spending and that has been a lot stronger than people expected this holiday season.”
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