Bargain Hunters Out In Force This Christmas

For the last three years, Google has produced some annual research about US consumers' online shopping behaviours, and with the latest wave just out, it's a good time to recheck your understanding in time for the (hoped for) festive online shopping rush. Whilst the study deals with the US, there is plenty of food for thought for UK and European retailers too; here's our take on a couple of the key takeaways.

Firstly, bargain hunting is rife; some 55% of consumers plan to use more coupons in their festive shopping this year, whilst there is a 5% increase in consumers using coupon sites, social media such as Twitter and Facebook and mass buying sites such as Groupon in order to get a deal. As brands such as Oddbins have found, online coupons can get a life of their own if unchecked; savvy marketers might consider making them tied to a specific email address for example, or perhaps embracing the forwarding behaviour by giving their key Fans five unique codes for sending to friends.

Secondly, almost half (46%) of consumers say they intended to use search engines for finding gifts more this year. Brands using SEO or PPC should ensure that gift related campaigns are up in plenty of time for the Christmas research uptick, and don't forget the mobile strategy; tablets and smartphones will play a bigger part than ever this year, both in terms of sofa surfing and live price comparisons instore.

So; are your sites SEO and PPC ready for the Christmas rush?