BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Bicycle retailers on the SmartEtailing platform had record-setting conversion rates, revenue per session numbers, and year-over-year sales growth on Cyber Monday.
SmartEtailing — which provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help IBDs and suppliers sell online and in-store — reported Cyber Monday sales growth of 228%, with slightly fewer consumer visits than Black Friday, an indication of consumer intent to purchase on Monday.
For the five-day holiday period beginning on Thanksgiving Day, overall sales on the SmartEtailing platform were up 130% from 2019. SmartEtailing works with more than 1,000 bike retailers.
"Thanksgiving Day only had a modest 7% year-over-year gain in site traffic, which was unexpected," said SmartEtailing president and co-owner Ryan Atkinson. "We anticipated higher traffic because of changes in consumer holiday plans compared to previous years. The rest of the weekend more than made up for Thanksgiving, with each day seeing traffic increases between 25% and 65%."
Average order value was lower each day except for Cyber Monday, according to SmartEtailing. Some of this decline resulted from high gift card volume and higher kids' bike sales but the primary factor was the high aftermarket sales volume this year compared to last year, said Atkinson, who added that on Cyber Monday AOV was up 15% over 2019.
Atkinson said despite the overall platform success, the holiday weekend experienced more disparity between dealers than the summer season.
"Retailers with active outbound marketing programs posted much higher sales numbers, and their growth significantly outpaced the median retailer," he said. "This is reflective of how the in-season market conditions differ from the holiday season. During the holidays, there is more competition at retail for consumer spending, and the retailers that actively compete for site visits are more likely to succeed."