5 Ways Holiday Ecommerce Is Changing - Lessons Learned From The Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index

By Mike Duffy, President, Chase Paymentech

Expectations ran high for the 2011 holiday shopping season. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce showed ecommerce sales for the first three quarters were up over 17 percent versus 2010. Forrester Research issued a forecast predicting 15 percent growth for ecommerce during the holiday season. Federal Express announced plans to hire 20,000 seasonal workers to handle an anticipated 10 percent increase in package volume.

These trends were not lost on merchants. It was clear that online merchants were looking forward to the prospect of a successful holiday season, with some home pages showing holiday gift guides and early season deals. Based on the analysis of data from the Chase Paymentech Pulse Index, it appears those ecommerce retailers made wise choices, capitalizing on what turned out to be a very successful extended holiday shopping season.

For the merchants included in the Pulse Index, customers turned to ecommerce in record numbers for their holiday shopping, with year-over-year growth rates far outpacing forecasts. For the full 2011 holiday shopping season, online sales grew 25%, and transaction volume increased a staggering 37%.

Looking at growth rates by themselves, however, only scratches the surface when it comes to understanding how ecommerce is changing. By digging into the Pulse Index data, we can identify some clear trends and develop strategies to leverage the changes.