Mobile drove about 30 percent of sales on Black Friday this year, digital advertising analyst eMarketer reports, highlighting the big trend on what retailers consider the most important shopping day of the year: the convergence of online-to-offline commerce is beyond the emerging stage. It’s a a definite reality of the way consumers plan and make their purchases. (We’ve been watching Black Friday particularly closely here, here, and here.)
The difference between 2013′s Black Friday and this year’s couldn’t be more stark, as eMarketer notes that the number of people using their smartphones to make an purchase was up 48 percent in 2014. Overall, Thanksgiving Day sales totaled $1.33 billion this year, while Black Friday, which comes the day after the holiday, saw sales reach $2.4 billion.
Aside from our Black Friday obsession, the other big deal in our view these days is the advent of wearables. Just about every brand from Domino’s to Kenneth Cole is experimenting with digital jewelry in some form or another. But it appears that even with all the excitement/hype over coming products like the Apple Watch, it seems consumers and marketers are still trying to figure out just whether or not wearables are actually meaningful. At the moment, it’s clear the fascination more than substance is defining the how wearables are viewed.
That’s the conclusion that can be drawn from the topic of wearables capturing the number one spot in Microsoft’s search engine Bing’s predictions for 2015. According to SearchEngineLand, wearables beat out personal digital assistants (anyone out there remember the Palm Pilot from the 1990s?), 3-D printing, and virtual reality gaming.
Elsewhere, Yahoo isn’t waiting around to see if wearables take off; Leo Polanowski, head of client services at Yahoo, tells Mediapost’s Laurie Sullivan that the company is trying to determine if its mobile Gemini ad platform might be a good “accessory” for digital jewelry devices.
Of course, Bing’s predictions are a bit all over the place: the search engine is also forecasting good times for turtleneck shirts and hummus over the next 12 months.
Other news that caught our attention this week: following the release of Foursquare’s iPad app, Mediapost’s Gavin O’Malley reports that Twitter is rumored to be considering a formal partnership with the erstwhile check-in service cum “discovery” app.
And now, for the top five stories GeoMarketing readers have gravitated to this past week:
5. Uplette Targets Content, Not Just Eyeballs
The Mobile ad targeter plans to expand its reach by concentrating on contextual ads. CEO Amanda Parker talks to GeoMarketing’s Lauryn Chamberlain about the startup’s journey and plans for the coming year.
4. Quaker Serves Breakfast — With Wearables
The food conglomerate teamed up with wearable tech company Jawbone in order to reach younger customers — and support charity in the process.
3. Agencies, Marketers Find Inspiration In Location Data
But the buy side is still in the exploratory stages of geo-marketing, says Beeby Clark+Meyler’s James Mullany.
2. Old Navy Goes Native
The Gap’s discount sibling integrated mobile, geo-targeted ads with content from blog partners to promote discovery of its childrens’ clothing line.
1. IAB To Ad Industry: It’s Time To Talk About Mobile Data
Mobile now represents a quarter of all online ad spending, but expenditures may be exceeding understanding. David Kaplan talks to the IAB’s Patrick Dolan.
