The retail landscape has significantly altered over the past few months, with record ecommerce numbers replacing foot traffic and ushering in an unprecedented holiday shopping season. While many brick and mortar stores will struggle to survive the year, ecommerce and click and collect are expected to continue encouraging massive online shopper audiences. With online shopping poised to explode this holiday season, digital marketers will want to ensure audience targeting is on to successfully navigate the blitz.

Huge Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and even Thanksgiving numbers are expected for Holiday 2020. According to eMarketer, Thanksgiving is expected to see a dramatic 49.5% growth rate while Black Friday and Cyber Monday should surpass $10 billion in ecommerce sales. In fact, over the past few months, ecommerce has accelerated the shift to online shopping by nearly 2 years and will reach 14.4% of all US retail spending this year.

So where are people spending? When lockdowns first began in March, we predicted businesses would need to adapt to survive. Since then, we’ve seen a variety of industries survive and even thrive, some more surprising than others. Essentials, such as groceries have predictably been up, but a significant rise has also been seen in other areas of ecommerce, such as consumer electronics rising 20%. Despite worldwide circumstances, restless customers are ready to shop, and are more active online than ever before.

• 
  health & beauty
  23%
  increase
  (view our audiences)
• 
  consumer electronics
  20%
  increase
  (view our audiences)
• 
  fashion
  19%
  increase
  (view our audiences)
• 
  home furnishings
  16%
  increase
  (view our audiences)

And it’s not just physical tech that’s seen an increase – during the pandemic, consumers have spent a record $28 billion in mobile apps during Q3, a 20% YoY increase. This larger user base is also spending more time within apps, as average hourly usage has also increased by 25%. With more consumers spending more time in more places online, digital marketers are presented with more opportunities to reach holiday shoppers this season, and advanced audience targeting can be crucial in getting the most from campaigns.

While more online shoppers create more opportunities for marketers, it also means increased competition. Digital ad spending is also expected to increase 18% from 2019, with advertisers capitalizing on the surging shopping crowds. To successfully navigate the sea of holiday shoppers and rival brands, an effective strategy includes improved targeting and audience efficiency. By focusing on the most relevant audiences, brands and marketers are able to effectively reach their likely buyers while getting the most out of their impressions.

With so many consumers spread out across apps, devices, digital marketers have come to rely on our audiences for precision targeting among the noise. Social powered insights help brands and digital marketers grow and scale their campaigns by reaching the most likely new and existing buyers. Contact us today at audiences@affinityanswers.com to learn how we can help your holiday campaign targeting.