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Driving online activity home for Christmas
15th December 2011. Posted by Tom Braithwaite. Trackback
Clearly Bob Geldof doesn’t have any trouble when it comes to present buying during the festive season. Why else would he boldly claim: “it’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid”?
He’s wrong. There is a need. A very real need. Like many offices across the country, we recently exchanged Secret Santa presents, unveiling gifts like the glorious one I received in the image above.
And, while at first I was hit by a wall of fear about what to buy for my lucky chosen colleague, I’m glad to say the whole team came away with some fantastic items.
For me, my own anxiety about what to buy was largely relieved by the use of my mobile phone and a particularly impressive Christmas gift stand in Waterstones, and it turns out I wasn’t alone.
Talking to the Rewired team, it seems we all made use of the Internet before opting to head to the high street to make our final purchases. Despite reports that last week’s footfall figures for the high street were down on last year, it’s a way of browsing that brands are recognising and incorporating into their online offering.
Google recently announced that shoppers are using their mobiles a lot more to search for last minute Christmas gifts and store locations. The search giant estimates that this year 44% of searches will be made on mobile rather than desktop, more than double the 20% for the same period last year.
It means that the link between online and offline will hopefully aid footfall in high street stores in the run up to Christmas.
This style of shopping can be seen in the recent campaign from Argos which centres on a television advert featuring the voice of Bill Nighy. It demonstrates how shoppers can choose what they want from its online offering first and then go in store to collect it, and includes a mobile version for use on the move.
It’s good to see, especially when some articles suggest online and offline can’t work together, as was reported last week.
For me, I think we’re seeing some exciting developments for mobile and retail which will continue into 2012 – and anything to aid my buying experience and conquer my fear of Christmas shopping is fine with me.