Captivating Connections.

thanks to gift givers everywhere, tablet & E-Reader owners doubled this holiday.

It was a big holiday for tablets & eReaders!

According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, "the share of U.S. adults who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% during the holiday season, fueled in part by the launch of less expensive devices like the Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet."

Even more impressive, "e-reader ownership also jumped from 10% to 19% between mid- December and mid-January, while the proportion of Americans with either type of device climbed from 18% to 29%."

mobile shopping made major moves this holiday season.

We know smartphones are becoming popular, which means all the awesome reasons to get a smartphone (apps, mobile Internet, messing w Siri, etc.) are becoming increasingly popular.

That became pretty evident this holiday season, as smartphones users relied on their smartphones for holiday shopping. In fact, according to recent research from TechBargains...

- Among smartphone owners, 32% of women and 25% of men made half or more of their holiday purchases via mobile phones

- 34% of iPhone users and 20% of Android users who made purchases using their phones say half or more of their holiday purchasing was done via their smartphones

- Among tablet owners, 35% of women and 21% of men made half or more of their holiday purchases via their iPads and other tablets

- 58% of mobile phone owners have made purchases via their devices (compared with 94% on laptops and 75% via tablets)

It gets a bit more detailed when it comes to those who shop with their phones..

- 79% use it to research products

- 77% to compare prices

- 73% to browse stores

- Of the 58% percent of shoppers who make purchases via mobile devices, 69% use both the mobile browser and apps to buy products; 18% only use apps, 13% only use a mobile browser

are you screwing yourself?

If you're waiting till the last minute to do your holiday shopping, you very well may be (along with a whole lot of other people).

According to PriceGrabber, "41% of shoppers...plan to shop between Dec. 21 and 24, and 43% of those say it is in order to find better deals. (Of course, 43% also said it was because they’re too busy, 26% admit they are procrastinating, and 22% actually think shopping is more fun that way.)"

Sounds like the malls are going to be packed...

"And they’re not just looking for last-minute stocking stuffers, either. When asked what type of gifts they plan to purchase at the last minute...53% intend to purchase both big- and small-ticket items, 10% will buy all their gifts, and 6% will buy only big-ticket items (over $100)."

So keep those stores stocked, and, if you venture out the night before, be careful!

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/164117/procrastination-41-plan-on-the-11th-hour.html?edition=41246#ixzz1gWNC0AxE

the guy who said books are dying is leading a books renaissance.

Ironically, in a world where tablets and eReaders are picking up steam, book stores are experiencing a boom:

"Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookstore chain, said that comparable store sales this Thanksgiving weekend increased 10.9 percent from that period last year. The American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independents, said last week that members saw a sales jump of 16 percent in the week including Thanksgiving, compared with the same period a year ago."

Helping to lead this charge?

“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson

“Catherine the Great” by Robert K. Massie

“Spencer Tracy” by James Curtis

Also, memoirs from Diane Keaton, Regis Philbin and Gabrielle Giffords.

can holiday ecommerce be a beacon of light in this economy?

According to multiple pre-holiday surveys, eCommerce may be the shining light at the top of the holiday shopping tree (sorry for the analogy, but I am a Jew after all, and not such a pro on Christmas analogies!).

Here's some stats and findings from eMarketer:

- "US retail ecommerce holiday-season sales, which include all retail ecommerce sales during November and December, will rise 16.8% this year to $46.7 billion."

- “Strong online holiday spending...will boost ecommerce sales to $195 billion for the year, up 16.5% over 2010.”

- "Overall retail sales growth during the holiday season is expected to be lackluster compared to ecommerce: firms range between 2.5% and 3.5% in their growth estimates for total holiday retail sales this year."

how digital is changing the holiday shopping timeline.

How important is Black Friday and Cyber Monday this season when you have Digital Everyday?

According to  Mediabrands’ Shopper Science, "42% of shoppers said they will spend more time doing online research before making a gift purchase this year than last year, and will be more likely to use emerging technologies to do so. Thanks to the rise of retail apps that allow users to compare prices, call up coupons, check inventory and enable digital payments, .the mobile influence on the season’s shopping behavior will be up 300% over the previous year

The influence of mobile devices will have an effect on the lines forming outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving. According to the survey, only 8% of respondents said they expected to be in line when the stores open on Black Friday, while another 15% said they expect to shop that day, but at a more reasonable hour. Half of all shoppers said they plan to skip the malls and big-box stores altogether on Black Friday."

What does this mean for retail? They're going to have to get creative, and "employ a diverse array of tactics to ensure they are connecting with shoppers who are researching every purchase, seeking the best deal. Some tactics will include: previewing Black Friday deals well in advance of the shopping date, sending out alerts via text and social media for spontaneous deals and closing sales well in advance of Black Friday to extend the shopping experience."

is digital democratizing this holiday season?

According to Deloitte's Scott Erickson, when it comes to holiday spending, there's an interesting change this season. As he sums it up,  “when it comes to online and social media, we are seeing a bit of flattening of the bell curve. It used to be that we saw a much higher usage in Gen Y, and now we’re seeing that the people utilizing digital and online experiences are spread pretty widely across all age and income groups.”

Check out his interview on how Gen Y now differs here.

will amazon kill it (and the competition) this holiday?

According to Kantar Retail, Walmart and Target are set to suffer this holiday season, while Amazon makes a killing (or at least doesn't suffer).

According to their research, "shopping in most channels is expected to be down, with 'online only' stores such as Amazon the major exception. And with online sales gaining in almost every category, including consumables, the Internet’s gains are increasingly at the expense of major discounters."

According to  Mary Brett Whitfield, SVP/director of shopper insights, “Last year, 60% of the shoppers we surveyed said they intended to do some holiday shopping at Walmart, 45% at Target, and 40% at online-only sites. This year, that changed considerably, with just 52% saying they plan to shop at Walmart, 43% at Target and 45% at online-only sites. In other words, people are planning on spending more online than at Target. That’s key for retailers to understand the importance and prevalence of online shopping.”

even the affluents are cautious about luxury spending this holiday season.

If you look at forecasts from eMarketer and Unity Marketing, you'll get the sense that, while Affluents plan on spending this holiday season, when it comes to luxury purchases, how much they'll be buying is iffy. Why? Even among Affluents, "there are also signs that consumer confidence is waning in the face of the continuing down economy."

According to Unity's Luxury Consumption Index, "the share of affluent respondents who said they were currently spending less on luxury goods than a year ago was up to 27% in Q2 2011, from 25% in Q1 and 23% in Q4 2010. At the same time, 26% of respondents said they were spending more—down from 33% in Q1, and the smallest number since 2009.

Affluents were similarly cautious about their plans for future luxury spending. Most said they would be spending the same amount in the coming year as they have been for the past year. But in Q1 2011, they were more optimistic. Earlier this year, 30% planned to spend more, a response that dropped to 24% in Q2, while the proportion planning to spend less rose by 2 points."

holiday spending predictions are starting off optimistic (shocking).

According to eMarketer, "based on ecommerce spending trends so far this year, online and multichannel merchants are optimistic, always depending on the slippery road of economic recovery."

As Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst, predicts, "price-conscious consumers will shift more of their gift spending from stores to the internet in order to take advantage of web features that make it easy to compare prices and find good deals."

While this isn't shocking, it's definately time to start takign these thoughts into considerations. It's crazy that it's already time to starting thinking about the winter holidays and the leaves haven't even changed yet!