The sun is shining intensely, ready for the August Bank Holiday and its countless beer garden parties, Notting Hill Carnival, beach visits, barbecues and plenty more of that summer fun. So what does this gloriously sunny weekend mean for marketers? Why, Christmas shopping of course!
No, really. According to shopper insight released this morning by eBay Advertising, August Bank Holiday weekend will fire the pistol for early Christmas shopping.
The company has revealed that shoppers made almost half a million searches for “Christmas” on eBay.co.uk during August last year – up 70 per cent from the previous month – with searches for “Christmas Tree” up 300 per cent!
So it’s time for Brands and Marketers to remember that it’s never too early to start thinking about the festive period.
eBay Advertising has, in keeping with its research, released a Christmas Tracker, predicting peak windows of opportunity across categories. The tracker suggests that finding the perfect party outfit is the first thing on shoppers’ minds – “Christmas” searches in the Clothes, Shoes and Accessories category leaped up in the third week of August last year, before peaking in early October, giving the category the earliest and longest window of interest.
Next up was Toys and Games, followed by Home, Furniture and DIY.
Rob Bassett, head of UK and EU Multinational Advertising at eBay, commented: “Christmas seems to be coming earlier every year, however our data also shows that Christmas shopping continues right up until the big day itself too, with over 300,000 searches made for “Christmas” on ebay.co.uk in the final week of the countdown last year. With an elongated window of opportunity for brands to engage, marketers need to think carefully about how to weight their spend when it’s going to deliver the biggest returns.
“Marketers should consider not only weighting spend according to category peaks, but also retaining a degree of flexibility to allow for the unexpected. Our insights show that external factors – from fads to shifting weather patterns – have a huge impact on how and what people buy, the run up to Chrimstas in no exception. So whilst brands should plan ahead for their Christmas campaigns, it can also pay to be ready for the unexpected.”
