Clothes and shoes top the list of most-wanted gifts this holiday, according to a survey conducted by cashback shopping site Ebates – topping even hot tech gadgets like iPads and Apple Watches.
And, it points out, the Star Wars movie hype is having a limited impact on what’s considered desirable merchandise – only 19 percent of adults and 10 percent of teens surveyed selected such items.
Online merchants shouldn’t forget that people are also shopping for gifts on the low-end of the price range. Author and online seller Skip McGrath noted in his current newsletter that some search terms that are picking up steam include “stocking stuffers for men”; “stocking stuffers”; stocking stuffers for kids”; and “stocking stuffers for women.”
“If you sell any small items that qualify as a stocking stuffer you might want to add those words to your keyword field.” And, he advised, “Be sure and keep a record of which items you change so you can go back after Christmas and change them back.”
Sellers who look forward to Thanksgiving Day so they can take a small break from fielding customer questions and fulfilling orders should know the family-oriented holiday is no longer off the table for shoppers. Ebates’ 2015 Holiday Shopping Survey called Thanksgiving the new Black Friday, with 55 percent of Americans planning to shop on turkey day itself. More than half (55 percent) will modify their Thanksgiving dinner plans in order to accommodate holiday shopping.
That means online merchants may feel the need to have more staff on hand to handle customer service and fulfillment that day – a sad development for traditionalists.
