Wednesday, November 28, 2001 Online Shoppers Take Weekends Off ... To Shop Offline

by Steven Bonisteel

E-tailers would do well to snare online holiday shoppers during the workweek, because the weekends are likely to find those consumers at the local mall. That's the thrust of a report from digital marketing researchers at the Atlas Institute, which yesterday said that online holiday shopping patterns are "significantly different" than those of offline shoppers.

The Seattle, Wash., company said that an analysis of holiday- shopping data from 24 top e-commerce companies last season showed that online shoppers are most active Monday-to-Friday, while offline shopping soars on the weekends.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas 2000, online shopping - measured by purchases - peaked Thursday, Dec. 7, and Monday, Dec. 11, while offline shoppers bought more on Saturday, Sept. 23, than on any other day.

Atlas Institute said that online shopping dwindled significantly beginning in mid-December as consumers gave up on likelihood that purchases would be delivered in time.

The Atlas Institute report, "How Do Online and Offline Holiday Shopping Patterns Differ?" also says that online shopping activity peaks during working hours at around 1 p.m. EST.

"Many retailers derive up to 50 percent of their annual revenue during the critical (fourth-quarter) timeframe," said Young-Bean Song, director of the Atlas Institute.

Song said online retailers should tailor holiday advertising campaigns to target people who are at work.

The full text of the report is available on the Atlas Institute Web site: http://www.atlasdmt.com/insights/dm.asp .

Reported by Newsbytes