Retailers: Don't Leave "Peak Week" Money on the Table

NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysts at Experian Marketing Services, a leading provider of data, analytics and marketing technologies, have examined the current 2011 holiday season with an analysis of online traffic and retail email data and have released results focusing on the critical week leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Named "Peak Week" by Experian Marketing Services, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday reveals increased online traffic and email transactional activity, along with additional days within the week proving to provide potentially untapped marketing value.

The full analysis is available here: http://www.experian.com/blogs/marketing-forward.

"For many years, the assumption had been that Peak Week online traffic was researched-based, as consumers were searching for the best brick-and-mortar Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving Day before heading to the store the next day," said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research, Experian Marketing Services. "However, when looking at data from Experian CheetahMail, it paints a very different picture comparing email campaigns' transaction rate versus the volume of emails sent during the holiday season. Four days during Peak Week appear in the top 10 for highest transaction rate, highlighting a clear inefficiency, which means there are bigger opportunities for marketers during this week."

Highlights of the analysis

• Last year, online traffic to the top 500 retail sites increased 5 percent during Peak Week compared with 2009
• Overall Peak Week email volume increased 26 percent in 2010 versus 2009 that week alone, according to Experian CheetahMail data
• Online searches around Black Friday deals begin to ramp up as early as mid-October, and these searches have started earlier and earlier during the past three years
• Black Friday online traffic increased 13 percent last year, according to Experian Hitwise
• Black Friday is the second-biggest day for online email transactions; however, that same day ranks 22nd in volume of emails sent

About Experian Marketing Services

Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed data, analytics and platforms into multiple regions around the globe. It is focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting. Through these capabilities, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy, create measurable return on investment and significantly improve the lifetime value of their customers.

About Experian

Experian® is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was $4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Matt Tatham
Experian Public Relations
1 212 380 2939
[email protected]

SOURCE Experian