Online Retailers Prep for Holidays Early

Many online retailers are starting or have started their holiday preparations early this year. According to Shop.org’s eHoliday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 74 percent of online retailers had started preparing for the 2013 holiday season by July of this year, and 51 percent plan to start their holiday promotions by Halloween.

Online retailers are also looking to m-commerce to boost profits this holiday season: More than half have invested in optimizing their mobile websites; 38.3 percent have invested heavily in the smartphone user experience; and one quarter say they invested in smartphone apps.

Retailers will also tap specific mobile marketing tools to attract holiday shoppers this year, with more than half turning to mobile e-mail optimization. Additionally, 44.7 percent will use smartphone paid search campaigns, while just 17 percent favor QR codes or other barcode scanning promos.