SLI Holiday Sales Survey

E-mail Marketing and Optimized Site Search Listed as Top Strategies for Competing with Retail Giants Online

SAN JOSE, Calif. – October 2, 2015 – Mobile commerce is growing three times faster than overall e-commerce. Amazon and other online giants are using powerful site search, merchandising, shipping and other strategies to lure and convert shoppers. It’s a fiercely competitive landscape for online merchants looking to clinch sales during the 2015 Holiday Season. SLI Systems (SLI.NZ), a worldwide e-commerce provider for mid-to-large size Internet retailers, today released survey findings that shed light on U.S. e-commerce leaders’ top strategies for competing, as well as expectations for mobile this season.

Survey Highlights:

Competing with Amazon, Other E-commerce Giants – Online retailers are looking most to e-mail marketing as their TOP strategy for better competing with Amazon, Walmart, Target or other e-commerce giants.

• E-mail marketing (30%)
• Optimized site search (19%)
• Paid ads(14%)
• More promotions or deeper discounting (14%)
• Free Shipping (14%)
• Other (9%)

Change in Mobile Device Use This Holiday Season – A massive 81% of e-commerce leaders surveyed expect mobile device use during the 2015 Holiday Season to increase, compared to the 2014 Holiday Season. Nineteen percent feel use will stay about the same.

Mobile E-Commerce Sales This Holiday – When asked what percent of their sales are expected to come from mobile devices during the 2015 Holiday Season, a collective 43% of e-commerce professionals see the volume exceeding 30%. Approximately 31% of respondents forecast “up to 15%.”

• 16-30& of sales from mobile(26%)
• 31 – 45% of sales from mobile (32%)
• 46 – 60% of sales from mobile (8%)
• More than 60% (3%)

The Mobilegeddon Factor – In April 2015, Google expanded its mobile-friendliness ranking signal that rewards mobile-friendly sites with higher search rankings and demotes those that fail its test. SLI asked “To what extent did ‘Mobilegeddon’ affect your site’s mobile search ranking?” and found the impact has been equally divided. Exactly half of the e-commerce leaders selected “no impact,” while 41% cited “somewhat,” and 9% felt their sites were “greatly” impacted.

“Online merchants plan to use a variety of proven methods and retail technologies to compete with e-commerce giants this holiday,” stated Tim Callan, CMO, SLI Systems. “In addition to selecting the strategies offered in the survey, several industry leaders noted that they’ll boost SEO, offer unique or exclusive products, deliver personalized or content-rich experiences or implement loyalty programs.”

The survey was conducted on September 24, 2015 during SLI Connect 2015, an invitation-only summit for e-commerce thought leaders, drawing executives and managers from top e-commerce organizations including Dressbarn, Sports Authority and Frontgate.

About SLI Systems
SLI Systems (SLI.NZ) enables the world’s leading e-commerce retailers to accelerate sales by connecting shoppers with the products they’re most likely to buy. With offerings that include site search, navigation, merchandising, mobile, product recommendations and user-generated SEO, SLI is the most chosen cloud-based site search provider to U.S. Internet Retailer Top 1,000 retailers. The company’s patented technology continuously learns from the actions of visitors to deliver the most relevant results possible. Whether via PC, tablet or phone, a site powered by SLI delivers the kind of satisfying search experience that increases conversion rates, secures brand loyalty and results in higher order values. SLI operates on five continents. For more information, visit www.sli-systems.com.

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Media Contact: 
Liza Colburn
Crescendo Collaborative Comm.
1-781-562-0111
liza@crescendocc.com