Media Insights
Marketer’s Recap Holiday 2020 | December Week 2
Learn how shipping cutoffs are impacting media performance as consumers rush to find last-minute holiday gifts and how marketers should capitalize on revenue opportunities.
With positive leading economic indicators and early ship cut-offs in place, Ovative continues to see strong performance across retailers as we wrap up the final weeks of holiday. Read all of our insights and what actions you should be taking below.
Macro Trends – What macroeconomic trends did we observe?
TREND 1: We’re seeing positive market indicators for US economic health and stability.
- Federal lawmakers inch closer to a stimulus relief bill worth $748B. This bill would include revival of federal unemployment assistance, a small business loan program, and funding for vaccine distribution, food aid, and other struggling institutions. 1
- US factory output, a key indicator of economic health and stability increased more than forecasted month over month, driven by auto production. While total factory output has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, companies remain optimistic about the gradual path to recovery and future business conditions. 2
- So what? Retailers and brands should continue to monitor consumer confidence indexes, adjusting spend levels to capture increased spend confidence in 2021.
TREND 2: With 25% of retailers pushing up shipping cutoffs by at least a week and 12/15 marking the official shipping deadline for Christmas Eve delivery, retailers are pushing consumers to buy online and pick up items in store. 3
- FedEx and UPS are now being tasked with prioritizing and tracking the shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine in addition to working around the clock to deliver holiday packages. 4
- Retailers are incentivizing consumers to choose buy online, pick up in store options examples like J.C. Penney and Barnes & Noble offering 10-15% off the total purchase. 3
- Many brick and mortar retailers are now using their stores as fulfillment centers during holiday crunch time. For example, Apple is offering a new 2-hour courier delivery option at $5, leveraging its stores as hubs to send out products. 5
- So what? Continue to communicate shipping cutoffs and delays to consumers. Continue to push and incentivize consumers to opt into alternative fulfillment options, keeping a pulse on customer sentiment and experience to ensure satisfaction during this key time period.
Ovative Cross-Client Trends – What trends did Ovative clients experience last week?
As the number of days before Christmas dwindle, performance remains strong as retail clients lean into spend to maximize revenue prior to shipping cutoffs.
- Retailers in general performed well last week with strong revenue and traffic comps to last year, driven by continued competitive promotions and increased consumer demand as consumers rushed to shop earlier than previous years before shipping cutoffs.
- As expected, we saw week over week spend declines post-Cyber 5 deals and improved efficiency on reduced competition.
- Paid Search in particular delivered strong performance across many clients post-Cyber Week as consumers were searching for last-minute gifts, resulting in increased non-brand traffic.
So what? Holiday isn’t over! Last year, Super Saturday (the last Saturday before Christmas) was the largest in-store shopping day in 2019. Lean into buy online, pick up in store opportunities to ensure consumers can get their purchases in time for the holidays. In tandem, continue to plan big for 2021, leveraging holiday insights to inform media strategies.
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