FROM THE NETWORK
NOTES FROM THE NETWORK
Black Friday 2017 Shows Year-Over-Year Gains in Online and Mobile Traffic
At Retailer Web Services ( RWS ), data drives everything we do . It informs the software we develop and the technological advancements we launch . We pride ourselves on conducting national market research on the shopping patterns , trends and behaviors of the online consumer as well as capturing real-time analytics on the performance of the 2,000 retailer websites on our network . In 2015 , we began tracking comprehensive November holiday shopping stats on the RWS network . Here , we share the findings — and good tidings — from November 2017 to help retailers plan for the 2018 holiday season :
“... NOVEMBER 2017 POSTED MILLIONS IN PROFITS ...”
“... 6.4 MILLION VISITS FROM OVER 5.4 MILLION UNIQUE VISITORS ...”
“... 57 PERCENT FROM SMARTPHONES ...”
Overall , national retailers were not the only ones experiencing strong online demand last holiday season . For independent retailers of durable home goods , November 2017 posted millions in profits from sales and leads directly attributable to their websites .
Nearly 8,000 automated omni-channel promotions ran on the RWS network . Data provided from Google Analytics for a cross section of 1,585 sites showed 6.4 million visits from over 5.4 million unique visitors to these sites during November .
For the third consecutive year , Thanksgiving Day had the highest percentage of site traffic from mobile phones — 57 percent from smartphones , compared to this year ’ s daily average of 35 percent .
“... THE DAY OF THE YEAR WITH THE MOST WEB TRAFFIC ...”
Also for the third year in a row , Black Friday remained the day of the year with the most web traffic , followed by Cyber Monday and the weekend between the two shopping holidays . Black Friday also earned the highest number of online quotes and orders , followed by Cyber Monday .
“...$ 79.6 MILLION OF BUSINESS WAS FACILITATED ON THE RWS NETWORK ...”
More traffic resulted in more sales for independent retailers using web solutions from RWS . An estimated $ 79.6 million of business was facilitated on the RWS network . This figure is based on the estimated value of online quotes and orders received in November .
“... THE VALUE OF DIGITAL LEADS AND CONVERSIONS ...”
To quantify the value of digital leads and conversions , RWS polled retailers and found an average profit per sale to be $ 170 , with the following average close rates from these lead sources :
• 87.2 percent for online orders
• 50 percent for online quote requests
• 75.3 percent for GPS navigations to the store from mobile , and
• 64.7 percent calls to the store from the site on mobile .
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“... ESTIMATED PROFITS OF MORE THAN $ 7.4 MILLION ...”
Applying these aggregated averages to the stats recorded across all sites powered by RWS shows estimated profits of more than $ 7.4 million , which are directly attributable to their WebFronts ® web presence .
THE RWS TAKEAWAY :
These year-over-year results have continued to climb , reinforcing the need for independent retailers ’ sites to delight their local mobile shoppers and convert them into happy customers . There are significant returns earned by those that do !