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Mon Aug 6 2012 10:25:24

Rakuten's Global Shopping Data: Mondays Best Day to List?

By: Julia Wilkinson

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Worldwide ecommerce company Rakuten, which owns Play.com (UK), Buy.com (US), and Priceminister, as well as a stake in Pinterest, to name a few, recently released some global shopping trend information which I found interesting, because they did not always mesh with some conventional wisdom of selling online.

Mondays Better than Sundays?

Many eBayers go by the axiom that ending an auction on a Sunday is optimal. But Rakuten's data shows that many people are engaging in Monday "online retail therapy" for the start of the work week, with shoppers in the US, UK and Germany all racking up the highest browsing figures on that day.

Catch Mobile People in the Mornings

The image of an online shopper clicking away from laptop while in bed in the evening is ingrained in some sellers' mind. But Rakuten's data shows that in terms of mobile shoppers, in both the US and UK, browsing peaks in the morning. They are browsing even earlier in the UK; the theory being because more people in the UK use public transport, which gives commuters time to shop. The data shows UK mobile browsing peaks between 7-8 a.m., "when many workers are mid-commute," according to Rakuten. In the US, this morning peak comes at around 10am.

Who Lingers Over What

Online and moibile shoppers are dwelling the longest over higher-priced items, which is not surprising. But who browses longer over what is interesting: US consumers spend more time viewing computers, electronics, clothing and bags, with an average of 4.4 to 4.7 minutes, compared with around 3 minutes for lower-priced items.

But Brits linger over fashion and literature, "with the average user dwelling just over 40 seconds on clothes before purchase and under a minute on books," according to Rakuten, compared to more considered purchases such as TVs, which have an average dwell time of around 2 minutes.

Have you tried ending items on Monday, or noticed a spike in Monday or morning usage? Will you try adjusting your auctions accordingly, or some of them, where appropriate? I already sell world-wide, and I do sell quite a bit of clothing and jewelry to people in the UK, including high-end items. But I haven't thought much about peak browsing times before. Do you take such online data into consideration, or just list and not think about timing and who's buying what globally? If you have thoughts on this, post a comment here!