Search Marketing Blog
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Posted by Sean McMahon on 12.26.2008Like much of the country this holiday week, our EngineWorks headquarters here in Portland, Oregon has been under a couple feet of snow. In fact, today is the first day this week that our team members have been able to park in our parking lot! (Most of them, anyway . . . our Search Specialist, Amanda Bernard, needed to be pushed out of the entrance to the lot, and is now parked on the street.)
Along with the difficulties of getting to our front door, the plethora of snow also enticed many individuals throughout the Pacific Northwest to purchase holiday items online. This fact is not unique to our local region, however. In a December 24, 2008 article from DMNews, comScore reported that $24.71 billion was spent online this holiday season, with nearly twice as much being spent during the final week before December 25th this year, as was spent last year during this same week.
The article also points-out that this $24.71 billion in online spending was only slightly less (i.e., one-percent) than the amount spent last year in the same period of time. The take-away from this fact is that, even though the holiday selling season last year occurred during much more robust economic conditions, the snowy weather this selling season motivated consumers to do their shopping online, rather than brave the harsh elements.
As more and more individuals become familiar with e-commerce purchasing, and realize the convenience provided by Internet retailers, I predict the online divisions of traditional retailers will continue to outpace their snow-laden brick and mortar stores.
