Turkey Stuffing and Shopping

If you see family members tapping away at their smartphones or tablets during Thanksgiving dinner, they could possibly be sneaking in their first holiday purchases. Mobile will account for 31 percent of online sales on Turkey Day, compared to 21 percent in 2013, according to an Adobe holidays shopping forecast recently released. That represents nearly a 48 percent year-over-year increase, and they build on 2014's biggest digital marketing trend. Smartphones and tablets will account for $1.6 billion in sales on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, according to the Adobe forecast report, which predicted that those three days would generate approximately $6.5 billion in sales across mobile devices and desktops. Adobe processed and presented its data in its third annual Holiday Retail Report, which uses predictive analytics. The software giant looked at more than a trillion visits on 4,500 retail websites from the past six years—as well as 20 billion visits from last month—to arrive at its findings.

In addition, here are a few more of Adobe's stats that should interest not only marketers but shoppers too. 

• Online prices will hit rock bottom on Thanksgiving, lower than during any other 24-hour period in the holiday season. The average discount will be 24 percent.
• Sales in November and December are expected to account for roughly 27 percent of the total U.S. annual online sales.
• There will be five times as many out-of-stock messages on Cyber Monday compared to previous years.
• According to Adobe's survey of more than 400 U.S. consumers, 25 percent of them will consult social media before buying gift, while 40 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are likely to use social networks for gift ideas.

Best Practices in E-Commerce

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Over the past several years, e-commerce has transformed how people buy and sell. The Internet provides a fast and easy way for people to purchase things without having to visit an actual bricks and mortar store.  An online store can reach customers anywhere in the world.  In fact, online shopping has become so popular that many vendors sell only online with no physical location. E-commerce also facilitates the purchase of digital media with instant downloadable delivery.  Today's top e-commerce site builders take all of these factors into account. Online businesses are also quickly evolving to adjust in times of economic hardship by offering steeper discounts, flat-rate shipping, loyalty programs, and other perks.  Many e-commerce site builders make it easy to run promotions and keep your customers happy. So if you’re thinking about opening an online store, keep these three things in mind:

Storage Space

Some e-commerce site builders put a cap on your sales, so choose a platform that offers you the inventory space and bandwidth to fit your needs.

Safety Protocols

Choose a platform that offers fraud protection and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. This is for the protection of you and your customers. SSL technology makes it possible to send online payments securely and is a must-have on all e-commerce sites.

Site Design

Your e-commerce solution should have a user-friendly interface. The functions of each tool should be clear and it should be easy to select your desired options. Remember the needs of your customers. Imagine that you're shopping your own online store. Well-designed menus, filters, and sorting options will minimize the amount of time it takes to find a product and purchase it.