We need to have a little talk about shipping for this holiday season.  First I want you to read this report just released and posted on Internet Retailer (www.InternetRetailer.com) then we are going to chat about how eBay is changing the search function for the holidays AND more important how you can take advantage of this information for more holiday dollars.

Forecasters predict a happier holiday selling season online than off

Despite economic uncertainty, U.S. consumers will spend 21% more online from Thanksgiving to Christmas than they did during the holiday period last year, Forrester Research predicts in a forecast released today. While that would be slightly less than the 23% increase in online holiday spending in 2006 over 2005, it figures to be far better than growth in store sales as the National Retail Federation predicts overall holiday retail sales will grow only 4% this year.

Online retail sales will reach $33 billion during the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas period, Forrester says, up from about $27 billion last year. 11% of consumers say they will do 75% or more of their holiday shopping online, Forrester says, citing data from an online September survey of 2,521 U.S. consumers.

20% in the Forrester survey say they will spend less online because of uncertainty about the economy. In a separate survey by NPD Group Inc., only 5% of U.S. consumers say they plan to spend less overall for holiday gifts. NPD also found 41% of consumers plan to put off starting their holiday shopping until after Thanksgiving, 10% more than said so last year, a sign consumers know they can find better deals the closer it gets to Christmas, says NPD analyst Marshall Cohen.

The Forrester survey suggests shipping costs are a big issue for online consumers, with 61% of respondents saying they are more likely to shop with an e-retailer that offers fr-ee shipping. In response to a separate question, 49% agreed that “shipping prices often deter me from buying online.” Product variety also seems to drive consumers to e-commerce sites, with 55% agreeing that “I often find products online that I cannot find anywhere else.”

Consumers tell Forrester they are less inclined this year to pay for frills. Only 26% say they would pay for expedited delivery, versus 45% in the Forrester survey conducted in September 2006. Only 18% say they would pay extra for gift wrap or a gift box, down from 33% last year.

Apparel and accessories is the most popular online shopping category, with 80% of consumers saying they plan to buy such items on the web this year, versus 71% last year. 76% plan to buy books online this year, versus 61% last year, and 69% consumer electronics, up from 55% in the 2006 survey. The biggest increase in spending plans is in gift cards and certificates, with 18% planning to spend more this year, versus 9% last year. Many kids should have a happy holiday, as 17% say they plan to spend more online on toys, versus 13% last year.

Sucharita Mulpuru, author of the Forrester report “Outlook for U.S. Online Retail: Holiday 2007”, says retailer should recognize that the variety of products online is an important driver for sales and consider guiding web site visitors through top gift ideas. She also says many consumers appreciate payment alternatives to credit and debit cards, and suggests retailers that offer other ways to pay let consumers know that early in the shopping process, such as on the home page or on product detail pages.

Ok, so lots of great info for this holiday season, but did you caught the part about the buyer’s wanting fr-ee shipping?  Well, eBay has realized this too and they are changing how buyers will see things on eBay this holiday season based upon this fact.

Here is eBay’s marketing about the new way prices are shown to the buyers:

“We’ve combed eBay to find the best shipping deals so you can focus on shopping not shipping.”

Which can be found on this page: http://pages.ebay.com/shippingdeals/  You can see they are promoting Fr-ee, Thrifty and Fast (for ‘get it fast’).  They are also promoting very specific items this holiday too – categories include: iPods, Webkinz, clothing, makeup, cell phones, tickets and more (you can find the rest on that page).

They have also already changed the main search functions:

Under Search Options on the left hand side of the search page your buyer can now search for:

Fr-ee Shipping and Get It Fast shipping

Also, the drop-down search and sort function used to say:

Price – lowest first and Price – highest first

But, now it says on many categories:

Price + Shipping – lowest first and Price + Shipping – highest first (the shipping means shipping and your handling charges)

So what does this mean for you?

Well, first of all, I am not even going to worry about the lowest price part.  Hopefully by now you have heard my ‘buyers buy only two things – security and confidence’ speech enough to know how to overcome the ‘lowest price’ syndrome.  But, I am paying attention to the shipping options and am redoing all of my listings this weekend (wish me luck!) in order to get ready for the holidays.  Now, this isn’t going to work for all of you, but some good points to keep in mind for attracting the buyers (remember, it doesn’t matter what YOU want – it only matters what the people with money want.)

Here is what I am making sure each of my auctions has in it:

1.  All of my shipping options will be changed to Flat shipping vs Calculated.  This allows me to easily offer fr-ee shipping.  Also, I am removing my handling charges.  They are now going to be added into the price + shipping search. 

2.  I am going to offer fr-ee shipping on all of my products – does this mean I lose money?  No, I am also bumping up the price enough to cover those costs (AGAIN, remember,  your buyers may come onto eBay thinking they are looking for the lowest priced deal…but they WILL buy security and confidence AND pay more money to own those two things.)  The price increase won’t be drastic – most of the prices on my items will increase $3-4 each.  Also keep in mind fr-ee shipping doesn’t have to be the Priority shipping option – it can be a slower shipping option…allowing them to pay for the upgrade to Priority or Express.  You will want your first shipping option in domestic and/or international to be the fr-ee option as that is the one that eBay pulls from for these promotions and searches.

3.  I am going to make sure my listings are marked ‘Get It Fast’.  Here is how you do that:

Offer one of these shipping options – they do not have to be (nor should they be) your fr-ee option, just fyi:

U.S. Postal Service® Express Mail®

UPS Next Day Air®

UPS Next Day Air Saver®

Overnight Shipping Service

Then you also have to mark the option that you will ship within one business day of receiving the buyer’s payment – easy enough.  Also mark the box that says ‘Get It Fast’ on your selling form.  eBay will then designate your listing as a ‘Get it Fast’ item and include it in their marketing.

NOTE:  if you are using a 3^rd party provider, please check with them to make sure all of these changes are done correctly so you show up during these marketing opportunities.

2^nd Note: if you require insurance and offer fr-ee shipping, the insurance cost will be displayed during the price + shipping search

Now, this will be a bit of work…But, if I can get the extra search attention that eBay’s marketing is focusing on this holiday season it will be worth it to me to take the time to ensure my listings match up to what the buyers obviously want (see article above)

Tags: Success Announcements //