Rakuten Marketing Reports Black November Performance

Same-store cross-channel data reveals 22 percent YOY North America growth, confirming the rise of Black November

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Dec 10, 2014, 03:04 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Marketing (www.rakutenmarketing.com), the global leader in driving the omni experience, today reported same-store 22 percent year-over-year (YOY) Black November growth based on cross-channel data collected from Rakuten Affiliate Network (formerly Rakuten LinkShare), Rakuten Display (formerly Rakuten MediaForge), and Rakuten Search. This is 57 percent higher growth than the 14 percent YOY growth across all retail ecommerce reported by Adobe. The Rakuten Marketing Black November data also details key consumer trends based on the Nov. 1 – Dec. 1, 2014 holiday shopping period, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday growth, peaks in consumer engagement, the increasing popularity of shopping through mobile devices, and the rise of Black November.

In line with many pre-holiday predictions, while the traditional peak holiday shopping days grew YOY, Rakuten Marketing data showed that consumers shifted 4.5 percent more of their total November spend to Nov. 1-24 than in 2013.

"Black November is no longer emerging; it's here. Retailers kicked off their Black Friday deals ahead of Thanksgiving, and extended Cyber Monday deals to 'Cyber Saturday'," said Tony Zito, Global President, Rakuten Marketing. "Rakuten Marketing is uniquely positioned to predict and track these new consumer trends, and to adjust our cross-channel optimization strategies to maximize performance in real time as they emerge."

Among its same-store clients, Rakuten Marketing showed a 22 percent YOY increase in sales across all channels, from Nov. 1 – Dec. 1, 2014. The biggest growth was seen among clients of Rakuten Affiliate Network, who saw 24 percent YOY affiliate growth as more shoppers turn to publisher sites for recommendations before committing to a purchase. Individual channels also showed marked success:

Rakuten Affiliate Network: overall holiday sales were up 24 percent YOY, with Thanksgiving Day up 35 percent YOY, Black Friday up 28 percent YOY and Cyber Monday up 26 percent YOY.
Rakuten Display: Thanksgiving Day sales grew by 19 percent YOY. Rakuten Display further noted an increase in engagement rates by 53 percent, with consumers becoming more engaged in online ads at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, Nov. 23. Consumers were 85 percent more engaged with online ads on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday, and Cyber Monday engagement rates were 141 percent higher than the rest of November. As the highest indicator of purchase intent (.49 engagement correlation to conversion versus .31 click correlation to conversion), engagement rates are a key indicator that consumers are actively shopping online, and being influenced by online advertising.
Rakuten Search: mobile conversion rates were up 39 percent YOY while overall conversion rates from paid search were up 17 percent. Average order value (AOV) was up 7 percent on mobile and up 21 percent overall.

Share of Rakuten Marketing sales through mobile devices averaged 23 percent from Nov. 1 – Dec. 1, 2014. Rakuten Marketing noted mobile device sales peaked on Thanksgiving Day (26 percent), Black Friday (25 percent), and the subsequent Saturday/Sunday weekend (a 26 percent average). Mobile device sales dropped three percent on Cyber Monday as shopping from desktop PCs increased during office hours.

Rakuten Affiliate Network: mobile accounted for 37 percent of clicks overall and 21 percent of sales, peaking on Thanksgiving with 46 percent of clicks and 26 percent of sales.
Rakuten Display: mobile accounted for 39 percent of traffic, and 25 percent of sales.
Rakuten Search: mobile clicks were up 12 percent YOY for Black November. While 2014 saw a drop of 7 percent in desktop clicks, sales were up 47 percent driven by stronger conversion rates and higher AOV.

About Rakuten Marketing
Rakuten Marketing is the global leader in driving the omni experience. Offering an integrated strategy that combines consumer centric insights with e-commerce expertise, Rakuten Marketing aims to inspire better marketing. Rakuten Marketing's omnichannel services include Rakuten Affiliate Network (formerly Rakuten LinkShare), the number one ranked affiliate marketing service, creating profitable and innovative partnerships; Rakuten Display (formerly Rakuten MediaForge), enabling one-to-one marketing across devices through precise targeting, custom dynamic creative, and engagement measurement; Rakuten Attribution (formerly Rakuten DC Storm), measurement and attribution solutions that allow marketers to uncover the true performance of their campaigns with an unbiased, transparent view into each media channel; and Rakuten Search, a full service paid search agency that specializes in boosting sales and brand authority across devices.

Operating as a division of Rakuten, Inc. (4755: TOKYO), one of the world's leading Internet service companies, Rakuten Marketing is headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Australia, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. Follow us on Twitter or learn more at www.rakutenmarketing.com.

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