{"id":38063,"date":"2013-09-14T16:21:01","date_gmt":"2013-09-14T15:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=38063"},"modified":"2013-09-14T16:32:25","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T15:32:25","slug":"testing-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/testing-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing it All for Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Testing the Sled<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"grinch<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/b> Now you listen to me, young lady! Even if we’re *horribly mangled*, there’ll be no sad faces on Christmas.\u201d <\/span><\/i>The Grinch, \u201cThe Grinch Who Stole Christmas,\u201d<\/i> Universal Pictures, 2000 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve wrapped up the last of our summer vacations, the kids are back at school and it\u2019s time for your first sighting of a pre-holiday ad or online\/in-store Christmas decoration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Don\u2019t worry, retailers have been thinking about it for you.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s white-knuckle Christmas, retailers and manufacturers have been working feverishly to ensure you forget about how you scoured the web and stores looking for bargains.<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, they learned a lot from all of their efforts to convince you they had the stuff you wanted to buy, give, share. So, they\u2019re pulling out all of the stops and testing a bunch of new technologies to not just finish the season in a solid manner but even produce a little sales lift this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retailers have set some aggressive goals for the season; and this year, they\u2019re focused on the bottom-line.<\/span><\/p>\n

It all boils down to their ability to drive sales through strategically timed promotions and totally integrated marketing \u2013 web, social media, mobile device, in-store.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the Charge<\/strong><\/p>\n

It appears that millennials will be the shopping influentials this year and will stimulate the buying influence in the age groups with the greatest amount of disposable money to spend this year \u2013 the Silents and Boomers.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"gift<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Gift Givers \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Millennials are the most optimistic about the upcoming Christmas season, and they will have a strong effect on the Silent and Boomer generations who have more money to spend this holiday season.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

eCommerce sites like Amazon, eBay, Other World Computing and many others have been redesigning, testing, tweaking and retesting their websites since before you threw down your last New Year\u2019s eggnog.<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, it\u2019s a never-ending process of taking advantage of new programming techniques and ideas to see if sites can be quickly opened and that you can go to the page\/pages you want even before you thought of what the gift was going to be and who it was for.\"christmas<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Test Flights \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Every manufacturer and retailer is taking a long, hard look at their web site and pages to ensure they open quickly and that search engines can find them quickly. Less than optimum location, poorly designed, out-of-date site locations and broken links costs organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Everything has to work seamlessly, flawlessly this year.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Online and brick-and-mortar sites as well know that a second or two load, refresh time; ease of selection and speed of checkout can spell the difference between a sale and an abandoned shopping cart.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve enhanced their SEO (search engine optimization) to adjust the site\u2019s contents for the optimum ranking in search engine results and have their SEM (search engine marketing plans in place to promote the site and improve page visibility \u2026 just for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research Tools<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The online\/store front retailers know you no longer have one device; you know, the stay-at-the-office, stay-at-home computer.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It would be nice (easy) if you did, but you\u2019re going out this year armed to the teeth and retailers are ready to deliver you their web pages in just the right format \u2013 notebook, tablet, smartphone.\"picture<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Screen Size Matters \u2013\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b>Large and small retailers have done a lot of work to ensure their web site and pages appear quickly and properly on all of your devices (notebooks, tablets, smartphones) to keep you interested and coming back for news, information, sales, special offers. Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Amazon and others want to ensure you don\u2019t leave \u201cbefore your time.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There\u2019s just enough difference in the device screen you\u2019re using at the time that if their pages don\u2019t look good, they know you\u2019re so gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life was so much easier for the web teams before you became totally connected!<\/span><\/p>\n

Social Action<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Channel people have learned the hard way that consumers have become very savvy on researching a product before they buy, so their \u201csocial media\u201d folks are limbering up their fingers\/thumbs to be everywhere you are this year.\"social<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Social Connection \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>The popularity and use of social media sites can change almost overnight; and since companies can\u2019t be certain which one you\u2019ll be using this holiday season, their social media folks will be on all of them \u2026 just in case.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

These folks are ready, willing and able to deliver information, news and deals this year on YouTube, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, Pinterest, and 12 other social media services that will appear in the coming weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Starting even before Thanksgiving (think Halloween), they\u2019ll be posting great ideas for you across all the services a couple of times a week.\"trust<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A Matter of Trust \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Friends and family have consistently had the greatest influence over what people buy; but today\u2019s web savvy consumer does a lot of online research before they make a purchase well beyond Facebook Likes. They study product, company and service reviews as well as user forums and reviews. They are well armed before they buy.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It would be great if you\u2019d just take their word for it, but today\u2019s consumer spends hours researching the product category he\/she is interested in to find just the right product from the right company\/retailer with the right reputation and service\/support at the best price.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pattern Set<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

With money being tight the last couple of years, people have gotten into the habit of being real serious about how they spend their holiday budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

The retail industry doesn\u2019t see that changing.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the clerk said, \u201cFor the next 5 minutes only, 99% off!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Since it\u2019s a level playing field today, nearly everyone will be offering price matching \u2026 just show them the ad, price\u2026BAM!!!<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"smartphone<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

New POS \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>The smartphone has become a valuable tool and\u00a0 <\/span>resource for today\u2019s shopper with people doing a lot more research, even when they are in the store checking product reviews\/reports as well as the best pricing. Beyond just acting as showrooms for online sites, a growing number of retailers have implemented price matching policies for any product advertised at another store or online.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Retailers have gotten past the anguish of you bringing your smartphone into the store and showrooming (checking the physical product, searching for a better price and leaving to buy online).<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that happens a little, but most people who have gone to the trouble of going to the store want the product Now <\/i><\/b>and that\u2019s going to be even more important this holiday buying season when inventories everywhere are going to be closely monitored by management.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, retailers see your smartphone being a real advantage for them this year.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to a recent study, Bayfront found:<\/span><\/p>\n