Interwebology: The e-commercialization of Christmas
For decades now the fourth
Thursday of November has been
followed by America's biggest
shopping day: Black Friday. With
only a week to spare before
December officially begins, the
New Spirit of Christmas is ushered
in with products flying off shelves
and landing under brightly decorated
trees.
Of course, not everyone is willing to face aggressive crowds and risk being trampled for the sake of 20 per cent off a shiny new toaster. For those who prefer to shop from home, the era of broadband offers an alternative: Cyber Monday.
Falling on the Monday after Black Friday, the term was only coined within the past decade, when the online sales spike was first reported (which is to say, once Internet access and speeds reached levels where online shopping was convenient). While some were initially skeptical as to whether the term was legitimate or just a rumour created to spur on another big shopping day, for better or for worse it is now a proven event.
According to CNN, 2009's Cyber Monday sales were up 14 per cent over last year, and shoppers actually purchased more per order online than they had in stores on Friday. An average of 4.3 million shoppers were counted per minute, with traffic rates peaking at just over 7.6 million hits per minute.
However, this year's shopping habits speak to more than just economic recovery. Statistics firm Coremetrics noticed that browsing sessions were five per cent shorter and bounce rates were 40 per cent higher than last year. So while consumers are spending more, their purchases are more deliberate; window-shopping is in decline.
And is it any wonder? Advertisers are still struggling to replace the old model of interruption- based ads. Commercials at pivotal plot points and vibrant print ads written in the font of the sale are still staples. Millions of dollars have been invested in the study of human distraction.
The primary online method of advertisement is to pepper sites with sidebars and headers in the hopes of drawing the eye away from focal content. However, with the rise in social media, some advertisers are now trying to sneak out of the periphery and directly into news feeds and streams by offering users financial rewards for recommending their products. Essentially they are trying to buy the trust that our social networks have placed in our own opinions, since they can't seem to garner any of their own.
Even when sales aren't prompted by financial gains, the tendency of users to exploit social media to laud or praise their recent acquisitions certainly seems to be having an impact. There is a pre-existing adage in public relations that states that one bad experience will result in negative anecdotes being passed to 10 people, each of whom will pass the criticism along to 10 more potential buyers. The reputation spreads quickly and exponentially.
However, with Facebook, one bad experience can be instantly broadcast to hundreds of people. And with Twitter's now-native Retweet feature, the exponential growth rate itself is multiplied. Not to mention that virtually every online retailer now has a built in forum for comments and product reviews.
In fact, there are many corners of the Internet devoting themselves to decrease the amount of time you have to spend sifting through ads. Recommendation lists based on popularity, environmental conscientiousness, child safety, and demographics are popping up all over the Internet, and even in mobile phone apps.
Even once the best gift is chosen, the Internet is happy to hunt down the best deal for you as well, with such services as InvisibleHand, a Firefox add-on that checks over 100 online retailers for you while you shop, letting you know if there is a better price available.
Consumers are still happily consuming, but more and more it is being done on their own terms, rather than those of the companies. Individual customers and social advocates alike have long commented on (and, often, criticized) ad culture as amorally or immorally manipulative, and the Internet is finally permitting us to fight back with methods more assertive than simply changing the channel during commercials.
The retail industry has taken flack over the past several decades for commercializing Christmas, but it appears their monster has escaped. The holiday season has become the quarter in which almost any retailer can redeem a year in the red, and yet advertisers are losing control over the sales themselves.
Social media recommendations and sale aggregates are replacing traditional catalogues and print ads, and they are relying on public opinion far more than mass produced hype. So if we have the control, and sales are still breaking records, is it really the malls who are commercializing the season?
Whether we buy out of the goodness of our hearts, in the hopes of reciprocation, or in fear of being the one who fails to reciprocate, we still buy. So is this victory over the marketers a victory in the name of Christmas, or victory for the illusion of self-determination?
Of course, not everyone is willing to face aggressive crowds and risk being trampled for the sake of 20 per cent off a shiny new toaster. For those who prefer to shop from home, the era of broadband offers an alternative: Cyber Monday.
Falling on the Monday after Black Friday, the term was only coined within the past decade, when the online sales spike was first reported (which is to say, once Internet access and speeds reached levels where online shopping was convenient). While some were initially skeptical as to whether the term was legitimate or just a rumour created to spur on another big shopping day, for better or for worse it is now a proven event.
According to CNN, 2009's Cyber Monday sales were up 14 per cent over last year, and shoppers actually purchased more per order online than they had in stores on Friday. An average of 4.3 million shoppers were counted per minute, with traffic rates peaking at just over 7.6 million hits per minute.
However, this year's shopping habits speak to more than just economic recovery. Statistics firm Coremetrics noticed that browsing sessions were five per cent shorter and bounce rates were 40 per cent higher than last year. So while consumers are spending more, their purchases are more deliberate; window-shopping is in decline.
And is it any wonder? Advertisers are still struggling to replace the old model of interruption- based ads. Commercials at pivotal plot points and vibrant print ads written in the font of the sale are still staples. Millions of dollars have been invested in the study of human distraction.
The primary online method of advertisement is to pepper sites with sidebars and headers in the hopes of drawing the eye away from focal content. However, with the rise in social media, some advertisers are now trying to sneak out of the periphery and directly into news feeds and streams by offering users financial rewards for recommending their products. Essentially they are trying to buy the trust that our social networks have placed in our own opinions, since they can't seem to garner any of their own.
Even when sales aren't prompted by financial gains, the tendency of users to exploit social media to laud or praise their recent acquisitions certainly seems to be having an impact. There is a pre-existing adage in public relations that states that one bad experience will result in negative anecdotes being passed to 10 people, each of whom will pass the criticism along to 10 more potential buyers. The reputation spreads quickly and exponentially.
However, with Facebook, one bad experience can be instantly broadcast to hundreds of people. And with Twitter's now-native Retweet feature, the exponential growth rate itself is multiplied. Not to mention that virtually every online retailer now has a built in forum for comments and product reviews.
In fact, there are many corners of the Internet devoting themselves to decrease the amount of time you have to spend sifting through ads. Recommendation lists based on popularity, environmental conscientiousness, child safety, and demographics are popping up all over the Internet, and even in mobile phone apps.
Even once the best gift is chosen, the Internet is happy to hunt down the best deal for you as well, with such services as InvisibleHand, a Firefox add-on that checks over 100 online retailers for you while you shop, letting you know if there is a better price available.
Consumers are still happily consuming, but more and more it is being done on their own terms, rather than those of the companies. Individual customers and social advocates alike have long commented on (and, often, criticized) ad culture as amorally or immorally manipulative, and the Internet is finally permitting us to fight back with methods more assertive than simply changing the channel during commercials.
The retail industry has taken flack over the past several decades for commercializing Christmas, but it appears their monster has escaped. The holiday season has become the quarter in which almost any retailer can redeem a year in the red, and yet advertisers are losing control over the sales themselves.
Social media recommendations and sale aggregates are replacing traditional catalogues and print ads, and they are relying on public opinion far more than mass produced hype. So if we have the control, and sales are still breaking records, is it really the malls who are commercializing the season?
Whether we buy out of the goodness of our hearts, in the hopes of reciprocation, or in fear of being the one who fails to reciprocate, we still buy. So is this victory over the marketers a victory in the name of Christmas, or victory for the illusion of self-determination?
