Mobile Traffic and Google Shopping Product Listing Ads Drove Holiday E-commerce Sales

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Holiday 2015 marked a tipping point in mobile commerce conversion, according to a new research report compiled by e-commerce marketing technology company Sidecar. The report examines the impact of mobile shopping on Holiday e-commerce sales, as well as the growth of Google Shopping product listing ads (PLAs) and online consumer behavior trends during the season. The full report is available now: Sidecar Seasonal E-commerce Report: Holiday 2015.

The report reveals data from November and December 2015, and compares it to same-store data during November and December 2014. Highlights from the report include:

1. Mobile was a major driver of Holiday e-commerce sales growth. Revenue from mobile devices (smartphones) jumped by 45% overall—and by 188% in Google Shopping. Overall mobile conversion climbed by 31% to 1.66%, while mobile conversion in Google Shopping was up by 57% at 1.92%. Finally, 23% of overall e-commerce sales happened on a mobile device, up from 17% during Holiday 2014.

2. Google Shopping performance surpassed overall performance. Revenue from Google Shopping grew by 66% year-over-year, whereas overall revenue grew by 6%. And conversion rates in Google Shopping beat overall conversion rates on desktops/tablets (4.44% vs. 3.75%) and mobile devices (1.92% vs. 1.66%).

3. Google Shopping is playing a larger role in e-commerce strategies. Google Shopping accounted for 15% of overall revenue during Holiday 2015. That's up from 9.6% last year. In addition, retailers allotted 33% of their Google Shopping budgets to mobile during Holiday 2015, up by 43% from a year ago.

"With consumers increasingly relying on smartphones as a primary shopping vehicle, the question is no longer, 'does mobile drive revenue?' but rather, 'what can e-commerce marketers do to leverage the enormous revenue opportunity that mobile shoppers represent?'" said Andre Golsorkhi, CEO of Sidecar. "As the report indicates, smart marketers might have already found the answer—further investment in Google Shopping product listing ads.

"It's not a coincidence that both mobile commerce and Google Shopping are on the rise today. Their growth is aligned. Product listing ads display prominently on mobile devices, making the conversion experience much more seamless for the mobile shopper. These findings suggest that consumers are becoming increasingly reliant on mobile and product-level advertising as a shopping path—and marketers are becoming better at meeting consumers' needs in those channels."

The report includes advice on how to achieve just that. It details six recommendations on how to better meet consumers' preferences, including how to convert mobile traffic, bid more efficiently in Google Shopping, and more.

Other data covered in the report includes Google Shopping results on Cyber Monday and Black Friday—as well as the entire Thanksgiving weekend and other key shopping days, such as Green Monday and Free Shipping Day.

The report is available here: http://go.getsidecar.com/l/127301/2016-02-03/44ccn.

This infographic includes highlights from the report and can be republished by media and bloggers: http://go.getsidecar.com/l/127301/2016-02-05/47rvb.­

About Sidecar
Sidecar is an e-commerce marketing technology that uses machine learning to solve the complex, data-intensive process of connecting consumers to relevant retail products, in all paid marketing channels where consumers shop. The intent-focused Sidecar technology takes relevance to the next level, allowing retailers to display the right product ads to the consumers most likely to purchase them, at the right moment.

Sidecar considers an average of 1.2 million data points each day to analyze and index every product in a retailer's catalog, to ensure profitable growth out of paid customer acquisition channels across all devices.

Retailers that use Sidecar drive millions of dollars of new, measurable revenue and save time and internal resources, while maximizing ROI and improving the conversion journey for customers. Brands like Newegg, Nuts.com, GNC, and Choxi count on Sidecar to optimize their product advertising campaigns. Sidecar retail customers average an 87% increase in YoY channel revenue and a simultaneous 10% decrease in cost of sales.

Press Contact
Marifran Ritchie
Director of Marketing, Sidecar
484-680-1213
[email protected]

SOURCE Sidecar

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