Increasing conversion on America’s first trillion-dollar holiday

It’s upon us again, the holiday shopping season. We’ve fine-tuned the servers and braced ourselves.

Last year, in the US alone, shoppers spent $998 billion on gifts and seasonal treats ^[1]. This year, analysts expect that to rise to $1.008 trillion. That will make 2019 America’s first-ever trillion-dollar holiday season ^[2].

But there’s more to the story.

11.11 sales blow Black Friday & Cyber Monday out of the water

Over the course of the 2018 Thanksgiving weekend alone, Americans spent a massive $14.1 billion on gifts ^[3]. But the most hyped weekend in retail in the US is dwarfed by the $30 billion spent by Asian shoppers on the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival (formerly known as Singles’ Day) ^[4], rising to $38 billion in 2019 ^[5].

“11.11 could be the start of the holiday shopping season in the future,” explains Tristan Chiappini, PPRO’s VP of Partnerships, APAC. “This year, US companies such as Bose, Estée Lauder, Gap, Levi’s, Nike, The North Face and Apple were all among the top-15 biggest sellers in what is now the world’s highest-earning single online shopping day. It would be a huge miss to leave 11.11 off your e-commerce calendar.”

Get rid of abandoned carts and increase conversion

According to one recent study, 32% of customers report having abandoned a transaction because of payment difficulties ^[6]. Despite this, many merchants still don’t offer the full range of payment methods which their customers want to use.

For cross-border shoppers, in particular, it’s crucial to offer more ways to pay. But even in the United States, e-wallets, bank transfer apps and mobile wallets are used in 41% of all online purchases ^[7]. Worldwide, local payment methods — which are often highly specific to each market — are used in 77% of all e-commerce transactions ^[1]. By 2024, this figure will rise to 82% ^[1].

If payment service providers and merchants don’t offer these payment methods, shoppers will simply abandon the cart once they get to the checkout and go to another online store; one which does offer them the payment methods they’re comfortable with.

Given what’s at stake – a slice of the massive holiday-shopping pie – this could mean waving bye-bye to a big chunk of revenue.

Targeting – and winning over – the cross-border customer

Brands can optimise customer experience, strengthen brand loyalty, and convert more often – especially with shoppers across borders – by increasing the payment methods they offer this holiday season.

Learn more about local payment methods, common obstacles US merchants hit when selling to cross-border shoppers, and the global e-commerce market, download your FREE copy of the PPRO US Cross-Border E-Commerce Report.

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1. https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-2018-holiday-season-review-and-2019-preview
2. https://www.emarketer.com/content/holiday-shopping-2019
3. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/black-friday-2019-vs-cyber-monday-whats-the-difference/
4. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/11/alibaba-singles-day-2018-record-sales-on-largest-shopping-event-day.html
5. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/11/alibaba-singles-day-2019-record-sales-on-biggest-shopping-day.html
6. https://www.fintech.finance/01-news/retailers-failing-to-fix-customers-payment-pain-points-research-finds
7. Original PPRO research