Large Online Retailers Gain Market Share from Mid and Long Tail
One trend that has emerged since the beginning of the recession is the shift of online spending dollars towards larger retailers, who typically have greater financial resources to invest in offering the most competitive pricing on goods and services. In fact, growth for the holiday season to date has come almost entirely from the Top 25 online retailers, who have seen their total dollar sales grow 20 percent while overall growth among the small and mid-sized retailers has been flat. The top 25 retailers have gained 4.2 points of market share to a level of 67.8 percent since the 2009 holiday season.
Social Media Plays Role in Generating Gift Ideas
As part of comScore’s annual holiday shopping survey of consumers, approximately 500 Internet users were asked about the importance of social media sites influencing their purchase decisions. When asked how much they agreed with the statement “Recommendations from friends on social media sites are a great way to get gift ideas during the holiday season,” 33 percent agreed with the statement compared to 24 percent who disagreed (while 43 percent remained neutral). This finding suggests that, while social media can certainly play a role in driving holiday shopping and purchase behavior, it may not be a primary driver for many consumers.
When asked about which specific forms of social media may have helped influenced their purchase decisions this holiday season, consumers indicated that reading a consumer-generated product review (14 percent) and reading an expert product review (10 percent) were the most likely to influence their behavior. Some respondents also indicated that following a fan page on Facebook to learn about deals and promotions (9 percent), a friend’s Facebook status update about a product/service (9 percent) and watching a product-related video (8 percent) influenced their holiday purchases this season.