Online shopping is getting bigger and bigger. And this coming Christmas, online shopping will surely be a big hit to shoppers. But that won’t be the end of it. Online shopping will get bigger and bigger as more and more people are getting used to purchasing products and services online.

Here are some useful stats on the growing trend of online shopping that will help you get familiar with the growing trend, which will ultimately help you grow your own online business.

Growing Online Shoppers Rate

• The number of shoppers who shop online will grow. From 137 million in 2010, the number of online shoppers will balloon to 175 million in 2016.
• More than half of shoppers this holiday season will shop online – 54%.
• This holiday season, online shopping spending will be amounting to a whooping $92-62 billion.
• Black Friday was surpassed by Cyber Monday on being the biggest online shopping day of the year. This happened for the first time in 2011.
• 3 of 5 retailers will spend 20% of their marketing budgets on campaigns this 2012 holiday season.
• Almost half, 48%, of shoppers are planning on spending on online stores and physical stores this holiday season.
• In 2012, online holiday sales will reach $54.5 billion.

This holiday season, make sure that you take advantage of the growing number of online shoppers and create attractive campaigns that will make online shoppers to flock to your website and buy your goods.

Mobile and Search

• 53% smartphones users and %64 tablet users will use their device to search for products online this holiday season.
• Many shoppers, as much as 74%, will search for products online to get an idea on what to put on their wish list.
• Many online retailers, about 29%, will promote their in-store deals on Black Friday using mobile alerts.
• 84% of online marketers will utilize mobile friendly websites to increase sales.
• 2 in 5 retailers will be focusing on mobile email optimization this 2012.
• Mobile and tablet applications will be used by 80% of marketers to improve their sales rate.

Because of the great increase in number of mobile and tablet users, you should focus on using mobile-friendly websites and applications to increase your sales. You should make sure that you have sufficient content on your website so that you will have something to offer to your target customers.

Email

• Over 41% of mobile users have purchased good online because of email promos that are sent to them.
• 80% of online purchasers and 71% of in-store purchasers admitted that emails that are sent to them affected them and persuaded them to buy.
• 23% of online shoppers will find and use coupons that are attached to email promos that are sent to them.
• 31% of shoppers are tracking the latest offers and promos of their favorite retailer by subscribing to the latter’s email updates.
• Almost a quarter or 74% of retailers use email in closing deals with their customers.
• More than half of marketers said that their campaigns have been very successful when they have used email in their marketing campaigns.
• Almost all marketers who have experienced successful campaigns with the help of email marketing are planning on maintaining this strategy.

Use email marketing to grab customers and close deals. Always provide updates through emails and make sure you update your customers with the latest deals. Just don’t get over zealous and try not to abuse this method. Make sure you give enough space to your subscribers and don’t bombard them with hundreds of taunting emails each day.

Social Media

• Almost half or 44% of shoppers said they have purchased products that they have seen on social networking sites.
• 85% of online shoppers who purchase goods that they find on social networking sites have found those goods on Facebook.
• More than a quarter or 27% of online shoppers will get ideas from social networking sites before buying a product online.
• 91% of retailers will use Facebook to inform their customers about their holiday promos this year.
• 36% of marketers are planning on integrating social sharing on the shopping experience of their customers this holiday season.
• 81% of retailers plan on using Facebook to promote their goods on their brick and mortar stores.

Make sure that you use social media to let people know about your business and your products. Provide sufficient time, effort and resources into this marketing channel because this will significantly improve your online marketing success.

Website and Blogs

• More than a quarter or 27% of online shoppers will follow their preferred retailer’s blog to know the latest deals and promos.
• More than half of online shoppers will make an online purchase on flash sites if the product that they are looking for is being offered on the said site.
• 93% of online shoppers said that they have purchased stuff online that has been recommended by a blogger.
• Almost a quarter of retailers will utilize blogs to promote their products that they sell on their brick and mortar stores.
• 84% of marketers will invest on mobile-friendly websites this coming holiday season.
• Percentage-off coupons were said to be one of the most marketing techniques that attracted the most number of customers.

Make sure you make your website informative and functional to attract more customers and get them to buy your products. You should also create a blog if you don’t have one yet, so that you can have somewhere to place your offers and updates on a regular basis.

Also, make your website and blog mobile-friendly so that your marketing reach will be higher – including mobile users.