MarketLive Merchants Gear Up For Holiday Success With Record Traffic, Greater Numbers Of Orders, Carts, And Units Sold And More Revenue Than During Q1-Q3 2009
Merchants Enter Holiday 2010 Season on a Foundation of Retail Momentum
Dallas, TX (Marketwire) – Shop.org Annual Summit 2010 - MarketLive, Inc., the leader in hosted eCommerce solutions for midsized retailers, today showcased aggregate key performance indicators of their retailers for the first nine months of 2010. During the period January 1, 2010-September 20, 2010, retailers experienced a record 44.5% increase in traffic to their sites. The increase in traffic resulted in the creation of 55.9% more carts and a 32.4% overall growth in orders. Revenue also increased by 23.3% over the same period in 2009 and units sold increased by 45.5%. While the overall revenue and sales volume increased, the site conversion rate dropped three-tenths of one percent as a result of the dramatic increase in traffic.
"We congratulate our merchants for driving meaningful growth in traffic, and for turning that traffic into overall orders and sales growth in spite of the tentative economic climate over the last nine months," commented Mark Pierce, CEO of MarketLive. "We believe our retailers are poised for success this holiday as they leverage the momentum they are experiencing in their respective markets and design cross-channel promotion strategies that will engage the customer at every touch-point including online, in-store, mobile, catalog or customer service interactions."
With Holiday 2010 just around the corner, merchants are implementing proven strategies to maximize sales. Using the MarketLive Intelligent Marketing and Merchandising solution, many retailers are building personalized promotions that simplify holiday shopping for returning customers. Creative shipping and sales promotions are being used to drive volume on high-demand or high-margin products. Many merchants are using powerful customer loyalty strategies to deliver a single brand experience across mobile, on-site and in-store channels. According to a September 2010 study of more than 250 online retailers conducted by the e-tailing group, 31% of merchants project growth between of 1%-10% this holiday season. As many as 85% of online retailers will offer some form of free shipping this season, and 38% have mobile initiatives planned to maximize holiday sales.
"Our research shows that retailers are cautiously optimistic going into the 2010 holiday season," said Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group. "Most should be planning unique promotions, inspiring offers and creative cross-channel programs that will touch the customer where it is most convenient, and most likely to result in a sale."
In preparation for Holiday 2010, several MarketLive merchants are implementing new strategies for converting holiday traffic into holiday sales. Apparel retailer, Armani/Exchange, has launched video merchandising that makes it possible to purchase products directly from the video. Holiday-specific content and social attributes on sites such as Party City use entertainment to engage shoppers while showcasing a wide variety of products. Many sites leverage advanced search, customer reviews and personalized offers to drive sales. Additionally, several retailers are leveraging MarketLive Mobile to deliver content, promotions, customer service messages and to conduct transactions on smartphones.
"Our retailers are using powerful new technologies and leveraging proven best practices to maximize their success this season. We look forward to working with them, tracking their progress, and adjusting their strategies for optimum results as the season progresses," added Pierce.
About MarketLive
Since 1995, MarketLive, Inc. (www.marketlive.com) has provided enterprise-class eCommerce retail technology and services that help fast-growing companies successfully sell goods and services online. Designed to meet the unique requirements of catalogers, retailers, direct marketers, and manufacturers, the extensible MarketLive® eCommerce Suite and MarketLive's best practices-based Intelligent Selling® methodology enable merchants to enhance their customers' experience online while dramatically improving acquisition, conversion, and retention rates. The MarketLive platform is the most retail-targeted, fully featured, customizable eCommerce solution on the market today. MarketLive powers successful retail eCommerce sites, including Peruvian Connection, Sports Chalet, Vanity Shops, Gaiam, Helzberg, and Party City, Armani/Exchange and many others.
SOURCE: MarketLive, Inc.