Would you rather have a TV malfunction during your favorite Thanksgiving Day football game than have shipping issues on Cyber Monday? 40% of e-commerce businesses from a recent DHL survey would.
And here are some other fun facts from that survey:
- 35% would rather gain 10 pounds from overeating their Thanksgiving meal
- 15% would rather overcook their much-anticipated Thanksgiving turkey
- 10% would rather miss their flight for the Thanksgiving holiday rather than have shipping issues on Cyber Monday.
The stakes are higher than ever for e-commerce businesses that rely on Cyber Monday for a large portion of their Q4 sales. In 2017, Cyber Monday saw record-breaking action in the United States, with $6.59 billion in transactions in one day – an increase of almost 17%t over 2016.
It was the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history, topping off a Thanksgiving weekend that reached just over $13 billion in total sales.
The survey, which had more than 14,000 responses from e-commerce businesses, including DHL customers, reveals major challenges, priorities and more for businesses as they brace for the expected record-breaking Cyber Monday.
Some of the key findings include:
Cyber Monday 2018 > Cyber Monday 2017 A majority (52%) of respondents expect an increase of more than 21% in e-commerce sales during Cyber Monday 2018 compared with 2017. Almost 1/4 expect an increase of more than 40%.
Planning Early Matters. While 30% of respondents start planning for the busiest e-commerce holiday of the year seven to 13 months in advance, almost the same amount of respondents (28%) do not start preparing until one to two months in advance.
Express Shipping is Essential When asked what changes e-commerce companies are making to their Cyber Monday strategy this year, more than 1/3 (34%) of respondents said they were offering additional express shipping options. For 26% of respondents, offering competitive shipping options is their biggest business challenge when preparing for Cyber Monday.
Have I.T. on call When asked what their biggest business challenge preparing for Cyber Monday is, the number one response, at 29%, was website malfunctions. Nearly as many businesses—27% of respondents—plan to expand their I.T. teams to support increased website traffic around Cyber Monday this year.
