Social Media Crucial For This Year's Holiday Sales

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According to Fast Company , last year, 66% of all Black Friday purchases were a result of social media interaction. Other research studies show that 61% of holiday shoppers planned to research their gifts through social media, before actually heading for a (virtual or physical) shop. Last year, big brands took the lead with large social media campaigns. Gap ran a “12 Days of Joy” photo contest on Facebook with prizes at the store to be won. But not all retailers are following the trend and many fail to their customers on their social media pages. This may present a gigantic loss in terms of potential customers as 80% of users who interact with a brand’s social channel will end up buying from that retailer, it is revealed.

Retailers also need to remember the important role of mobile devices in social media. With people sharing on the go, it will be important for retailers to guarantee a swift transaction from social media to purchase. While many fashion retailers seem to have adopted well to the mobile channel the same cannot be said for other sectors. In the UK only 40 out of the country’s top 100 brands have mobile-optimized websites - they could be losing out on as much as one in five online sales, PYMNTS.com revealed.

As shopping habits change, retailers need to stay on top of things or risk losing out on this years’ super savvy consumers.