The following is an exclusive guest contributed post to MMW by Samantha Stallard, Content Marketing Manager of Fluent.
As a girl growing up in Georgia, I had no business moving to New York as an adult. I don’t know how to function in the bone-chilling winter months. It still baffles me that my daily responsibilities don’t come to a screeching halt when it’s snowing outside – in Atlanta, schools close, work pauses, and chaos ensues at the mere threat of inclement weather.
As much as I want to hibernate in my apartment with nothing but Netflix and flannel blankets until spring, I’m slowly learning to function in the cold.
But not even my fellow, thin-blooded Southerners can escape the freeze this winter. Storm fronts, several inches of snow, and single digit temperatures threaten the US from coast to coast. And while our lives don’t stop, luxuries like shopping are often the first thing to go.
Earlier this week, Fluent conducted a survey of more than 2,000 American men and women about the recent cold snap.
Almost 16% of respondents claimed they have shopped less in store this winter, but 27% increased their online shopping habits. Americans are taking advantage of retailers’ increased investments in digital customer acquisition, one-click checkout, and other paths to easier online shopping.
However, fresh off the heels of an expensive holiday season, (that saw an increase in average spending) when asked if their habits have been affected by the cold weather, over half of survey respondents (53.5%) claimed they haven’t been shopping at all.
Retailers can use the spike in online shopping to their advantage – offer free delivery to digital customers who sign up for your newsletter. Give your advertisement a winter theme highlighting the ease of online shopping and delivery compared to driving in the snow and trudging through the elements. Even take the theme a step further with a “winter shopping club” where participants who have shared your sign up information through social media or email, receive 10-15% off their orders when the temperature hits below freezing.
To combat the long winter ahead of us, retailers should focus more attention on bringing shoppers to their websites, keeping their customers under their blankets and out of the snow.
