Why You Will Happily Give Me Your Money This Holiday Season
It is finally here, my favorite time of year. The smell of freshly cut pine trees, shiny holiday decorations, and the all to excited consumers (myself included) who will spend their hard earned cash on the to-good-to-be-true deals. The holiday season is truly a mobile marketer’s dream come true.
Thanksgiving or the fourth Thursday in November, officially kicks off the holiday season and the next day, or ‘Black Friday’ officially kicks off the holiday shopping season. The commercialization of the holiday season seems very commonplace now, but it wasn’t always this way. According to the History Channel, Thanksgiving wasn’t declared a national holiday in the U.S. until 1863 by Abraham Lincoln. Thanksgiving continued to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November until 1939, when president Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up one week to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Under pressure, he caved two years later in 1941 and moved the holiday back to the fourth Thursday in November but by this time Thanksgiving was officially known as the start of the holiday shopping season. The holiday shopping season continues to grow year after year but the way people are purchasing their items is constantly evolving. One of the fastest growing trends is making purchases with a mobile device.
Adobe predicts that “mobile will account for 31% of online sales on Turkey Day, compared to 21% in 2013 which is nearly a 48% year-over-year increase.” Also, they reported that the purchasing of “smartphones and tablets will account for $1.6 billion in sales on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.” They also predict that those three days will “generate roughly $6.5 billion in sales across mobile devices and desktops.” These numbers are music to my ears. Consumers are purchasing more and more mobile devices each year and are then using those devices to purchase other goods and services. If you are one of these consumers, here are three reasons why you will happily spend your money this holiday season.
YOU BELIEVE THE HYPE
Whether it’s on television, in every store you pass by, or on your social media feeds, you can’t escape the hype that is “Black Friday,” or “Holiday Sale!” You love a deal and marketers take advantage of this by giving you great discounts earlier and earlier in the year. Adweek reports that “in an attempt to compete with online sellers, brick-and-mortar stores began offering “Pre-Black Friday” deals on Thanksgiving night, then Thanksgiving Day, and then a week or more earlier. Black Friday is actually a fairly new concept. It was coined in Philadelphia in 1961. It is called Black Friday because retailers typically operate in the red, meaning they make no profit. Black Friday is when they actually go into the “black,” or start to make a profit. Most consumers like yourself are going to spend more of your money this holiday season than any other time during the year because you believe what the marketing is telling you; this is best time of year to get a deal. One of the biggest deals are the “door-busters,” which are limited time only deals that are offered to the first few people. CNN reports that unless you are one of the few lucky shoppers “most stores keep such limited supplies of these deals, that few shoppers walk away with them.” Marketers do this because they know that if you missed the door-buster deal you will already be in the store and are more likely to buy something else. Mobile marketers also use sale and limited time offers as a tactic to entice you to make a download or an in-app purchase. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday shopping season is all about creating hype and you are going to spend your money because you believe in it.
IT IS WAY TO EASY
Retailers are making it easier and easier for you to give them your money. Sales have always been a huge part of the holiday season. Giving huge discounts on items gives you an easy reason to go out and shop. What is making it even easier is that more and more consumers are now shopping online in the their home or on their mobile device.Deloitte’s 2014 Annual Holiday Survey states that “more than two-thirds (69%) of consumers are planning on spending the same or more than they did last year,” and of these consumers “45% say they plan to shop on the Internet.” Gone are the days when you had to fight through through traffic and lines to take advantage of the great sales. Now you can easily purchase all your gifts anywhere and anytime using your mobile device.
The mobile app space is no different than any other retail space. Every holiday season the major app stores follow the seasonal trends of retail as shown by App Annie. Overall revenue is always higher in November and December which mirrors the overall U.S retail sales in the last two months of the year. This is due to the increase in mobile device sales (once you purchase a mobile device you are going to want to put the best apps on it) and app store gift cards. With the combination of great deals and mobile friendly online storefronts, mobile marketers are making it extremely easy for you to purchase goods this holiday season.
YOU HAVE TO KEEP UP
That HTC One M8 or the iPhone 5 that you bought a few months ago is getting old, what you need now is the new Nexus 6. Technology is moving faster and faster and in order to keep up your status you are going to have to own the latest TV, fashion accessory, or newest mobile device. You do this because your best friend just posted a picture of her new cool gadget on Facebook with the hashtag, #lookwhatIgot. You compare yourself to other people and you feel like you will be judged for not having the latest and greatest stuff. Marketers know this and use this against you when they market their latest product at a huge discount during the holiday season. You have to get that new tablet or phone and I will be there to give you a great deal on apps for your device.
As hard as you try this holiday season, you are going to happily spend your money. You are going to do this because you believe in the hype, it’s easy to do, and you have to keep up with everyone else. As a mobile marketer, I am fully aware of this and I am going to use it to my advantage. So let’s not pretend that we both don’t know what’s going on here. Let’s agree that this is the reality and while you are at it, click this link to get some “Crazy Deals on Magmic Mobile Games!” The holiday season is here, what are you spending your money on?
