Back-to-School Shopping Reveals Holiday Implications for Retailers

With the school year well underway, holiday shopping is even closer than you think. Many retailers use the back-to-school shopping season as a test run, prepping their brick-and-mortar and online shopping experiences ahead of the holiday shopping rush. It's up to retailers to ensure their sites are not only mobile ready for the holiday shopping season, but that consumers have a consistent experience wherever and whenever they interact with the brand.

Despite lackluster predictions for this year's back-to-school shopping season, IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark uncovered substantial gains in online sales from July through the third week in August, including double-digit percentage growth in mobile sales. Retailers rolled out back-to-school promotions ahead of Fourth of July and employed campaigns similar to their Cyber Monday and Black Friday promotions. Department stores benefited strongly from these tactics, with online sales up 33 percent over last year, powered by a 40 percent increase in mobile sales this July.

The back-to-school shopping numbers bode well for retailers, but how can this data help them prepare for the holiday shopping rush. Consider these four tips:

1. Adopt a "mobile first" approach. Mobile shopping is the rising star of online shopping; mobile sales were up 38 percent for the entire month of July over the same time in 2012. Mobile accounted for almost 22 percent of all online sales in July. Mobile technology investments should be a priority for retailers across all channels. Custom mobile push alerts, in-store mobile-only specials or simply an optimized online experience are good areas to start.

2. Make sure the experience is right for the device. Smartphone and tablet sales continued to grow throughout July and August, a trend that will likely continue through the holiday shopping season. In this new post-PC era, retailers need to make sure their site provides an optimal viewing experience, which includes easy reading and simple navigation across a wide range of devices. Improved online tablet experiences helped drive 4.47 percent of online traffic, an increase of 71.9 percent over the same period in 2012. Retailers can make simple tweaks to make sites more tablet friendly — e.g., adding extra space between menu items on drop-down menus. Small changes like this will ensure consumers’ navigation experience is simpler, more pleasant and customized to their shopping needs.

3. Use location-based marketing to better serve your customers. Location, location, location has long been the mantra of great retailers. This phrase takes on a whole new meaning with combination of smartphones, location information and a retailer's ability to deliver more relevant communications based on place and time. Consumers can choose brands they're interested in and opt in, whether it's via SMS, online, mobile web, social network or in-store. Retailers can then use GPS, cell-tower triangulation, Bluetooth or guest WiFi hotspots to better understand where consumers are located. This real-time context will help retailers deliver more personalized marketing.

4. Blend the best of digital with the in-store experience. Retailers can offer guest WiFi to encourage shoppers to use their mobile devices in-store, especially big-box stores which typically have poor reception. Adding QR codes or near-field communications (NFC) to in-store displays helps to bridge from physical to digital, and provides consumers with easy access to additional product information, price comparisons, and ratings or reviews.

With the holidays quickly approaching, it's more important than ever for retailers to make sure all of their channels, especially mobile, are prepped for consumers. Whether it's to help consumers at home curled up on the sofa with a tablet or smartphone for some couch commerce; in-store for price comparison, reviews, store maps, discounts and coupons; or even on the go to locate the nearest store or make a quick purchase, the customer experience should be optimized for each point of contact.

Jay Henderson is the strategy director of IBM Smarter Commerce, a provider of consulting and solutions to help companies rethink value in the age of the empowered customer.