COVID-19 has accelerated e-commerce growth — consumers spent more than $153 billion online during just April and May of this year, which represented a 7% increase from the entire pre-pandemic holiday season of 2019.

That means we can reasonably expect the 2021 holiday season to be the largest e-commerce spending event in history. In fact, Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast predicts e-commerce holiday sales to land somewhere between $210 billion and $218 billion, marking 11%–15% year-over-year growth.

It also means that brands should be preparing right now to ensure they have the plans in place to take advantage of this unprecedented retail season.

E-Commerce Shopping Habits Have Changed

New customer trends that first arose in response to COVID-19 are becoming the norm for how consumers expect brands to meet their evolving needs. As an example, Digital Commerce 360 reports the percentage of the Top 500 North American e-commerce retailers offering curbside pickup jumped from just 6.9% in December 2019 to 43.7% in August 2020.

People are also shopping for the holidays earlier than ever before. In 2020, pre-cyber week shopping saw an 83% increase in year-over-year revenue growth (Salesforce).

While many anticipate a rebound for in-store shopping this holiday season, a digital-first approach is also becoming more commonplace for today’s shopper. People are researching products online, comparison shopping across websites and checking whether products are available in-stock at their local store.

For home building and home improvement brands, this evolution of online shopping behaviors means increasing consumer awareness so you can be top of mind when they move from the consideration phase to purchase.

As a result, Google Shopping Ads are critical marketing tools for companies looking to reach new customers, generate sales and grow their business. Focusing on keywords and location targeting can improve your return on ad spend, lower cost per acquisition and build overall demand.

Have a Plan B for Your Holiday E-Commerce Strategy

With the ongoing supply chain issues being felt across the home building industry, these brands should also have a back-up strategy in place to help mitigate product scarcity. Perhaps that means reviewing existing stock for products that could be sold as a part of a holiday sale promotion.

In such a scenario, using Google Discovery Ads would allow you to quickly target prospects precisely when they’re most open to finding something new. Google Discovery Ads can show up on YouTube Home and Watch Next feeds, Google’s Discover and Gmail, while showcasing a single image of a company’s product or multiple images in a carousel format.

Being nimble with product availability and what you’re selling online means having the marketing materials you need at the ready. Google’s advertising platform allows marketers to leverage existing creative from social feeds to build image ads in minutes. However, customizing your marketing whenever possible to reflect the holiday season is also recommended.

This holiday season promises to offer businesses a revenue opportunity like never before, but the time is now to get your brand and message out to the market. Wray Ward has the expertise to help you take advantage of Google Ad strategies to expand your piece of the pie. Ready to get started or have questions? Email me.