Rakuten Marketing Reveals Holiday Shopping Insights & Predictions

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Marketing (www.rakutenmarketing.com), the global leader in omnichannel marketing and driving the omni experience, today unveiled new consumer behavior research based on cross-channel analysis collected from Rakuten Affiliate Network (formerly Rakuten LinkShare), Rakuten Display (formerly Rakuten MediaForge), and Rakuten Search. The Holiday Shopping Insights and Predictions research is a collection of trend data that details consumer purchase behaviors, in addition to predictive insights into the 2014 holiday shopping season from Rakuten Marketing leadership.

"How and when consumers make purchases over the holiday shopping season has long been a telltale factor for setting marketing strategies throughout the year, as well as forecasting for the subsequent holiday season," said Tony Zito, Global President, Rakuten Marketing. "Rakuten Marketing's cross-channel insights offer attribution analysis that help retailers better understand channel influence over the customer journey, empowering them to make informed decisions for future strategy."

The Rakuten Marketing analytics team observed purchases over the 2012 and 2013 holiday season to determine peak shopping days. One key insight revealed that the holiday season has increased by one day as consumers are shopping 24 hours earlier than in previous years; a trend that is expected to continue in 2014. Complete findings published here include the following takeaways:

• Consumers are not waiting for Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals; more and more consumers are looking for value online, and will buy whenever they find it.
• Consumers are turning to their mobile devices for researching products and redeeming coupons. Mobile will continue to thrive this holiday season as more consumers adopt tablets and smartphones for online shopping.
• Advertisers need to maximize holiday opportunity by extending peak-day strategies throughout the holiday shopping season, and by optimizing the smartphone shopping experience.

The predictive outlook section addresses everything from the impact that cross-channel and cross-device attribution will have on digital marketing efforts, to how the increased use of shopping apps will fuel the adoption of both "webrooming" and "showrooming" shopping trends.

To download the full presentation, please visit http://www.slideshare.net/RakutenMarketingUS/rm-holiday-insights-research.

About Rakuten Marketing
Rakuten Marketing is the global leader in omnichannel marketing and driving the omni experience. Offering an integrated strategy that combines consumer centric insights with e-commerce expertise, Rakuten Marketing aims to inspire better marketing. Rakuten Marketing's omnichannel services include Rakuten Affiliate Network (formerly Rakuten LinkShare), the number one ranked affiliate marketing service, creating profitable and innovative partnerships; Rakuten Display (formerly Rakuten MediaForge), enabling one-to-one marketing across devices through precise targeting, custom dynamic creative, and engagement measurement; Rakuten Attribution (formerly Rakuten DC Storm), measurement and attribution solutions that allow marketers to uncover the true performance of their campaigns with an unbiased, transparent view into each media channel; and Rakuten Search, a full service paid search agency that specializes in boosting sales and brand authority across devices.

Operating as a division of Rakuten, Inc. (4755: TOKYO), one of the world's leading Internet service companies, Rakuten Marketing is headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Australia, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. Follow us on Twitter or learn more at www.rakutenmarketing.com.

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Media Contacts:
Mindy M. Hull                                                     Colleen Wickwire
Mercury Global Partners for Rakuten Marketing     Mercury Global Partners for Rakuten Marketing
+1 415 889 9977                                                 +1 858 336 1078
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SOURCE Rakuten Marketing