eCommerce

Hunting out the best deals is truly a global activity. In April 2011, Groupon reached more than 1 million unique visitors (age 15+ home/work location) in 12 markets across the globe. The US saw the largest audience reaching 10.4 million visitors, but Japan and Taiwan made the list of the top ten largest markets for Groupon reaching nearly 1.6 and 1.2 million visitors, respectively.

Top ten markets by total unique visitors to Groupon (age 15+ home/work location):
1.  United States: 10,414,000
2. France: 3,619,000
3. Brazil: 2,501,000
4. United Kingdom: 2,351,000
5. Poland: 2,256,000
6. Germany: 1,846,000
7. Japan: 1,581,000
8. Canada: 1,407,000
9. Italy: 1,263,000
10. Taiwan: 1,192,000

(comScore Data Mine, June 2011)

Coupon sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial reached 6.9% of the online population worldwide in December 2010, according to data from comScore.

Penetration in Europe reached 9.6% of users, having grown by 5.7% points compared with December 2009. Much of the European growth was driven by Groupon, the data suggests, which made significant strides in Europe over the course of the year. In December 2009, coupon sites reached 13.3 million users, while in December 2010, Groupon alone reached 12.3 million.

Reach of coupon sites by region, December 2010:
- Worldwide: 6.9%
- North America: 18.8%
- Europe: 9.6%
- Latin America: 6.2%
- Asia Pacific: 1.8%
- Middle East / Africa: 0.8%

(ClickZ, February 2011)

Online ad spending growth is being propped up by targeted display and streaming video advertising, says a new report. According to Borrell Associates, both targeted display ad spending and streaming video ad spending will grow by around 60% in 2011. In turn, spending on less-targeted ads such as run-of-site display and national paid search is poised to fall.

According to the report, targeted display advertising will hit $10.9 billion in total in 2011. Local targeted advertising will reach $2.3 billion, while national is expected to hit $8.6 billion. And, while national targeted advertising will grow almost 50%, local targeted ads will grow at an even higher rate.

Streaming video advertising spending is also expected to jump by over 60% next year, to reach $5.6 billion. Although Borrell recognized that larger brand advertisers are creating some of that revenue increase, he said small and medium sized businesses using services provided by yellow pages and other local advertising companies are the true drivers.

According to the report, two of every five dollars spent on streaming video ads will come from local advertisers next year. Local streaming video ads will generate $2.2 billion in 2011, the report shows.  Meanwhile, ROS and national paid search advertising is on the decline. Borrell expects total ROS ad spending to fall 14% overall in 2011, though local ROS will fall around 3%. National paid search will drop around 11%.

Local online ads will generate around $16 billion in 2011, growing nearly 18%. In all, the report shows online ad spending will increase 14%, reaching almost $52 billion. (Clickz.com, September 2010)

A June 2010 survey conducted by Harris Interactive for social marketing platform Buddy Media found that more than 90% considered it at least somewhat challenging to reach audiences in local markets with a unified brand message.

The most popular tactics used to market to local audiences were websites with local content (69%), print ads (62%) and event promotion (59%). Less than half of respondents used social media fan pages for this purpose, and less than one in three used paid social media advertising. Websites with local content were considered the most effective tactic, named by 30% of brand marketers, compared with just 10% who thought fan pages were best.

The top obstacle to using social media to reach local markets was a familiar one: measuring success. But other, more mundane concerns also caused trouble. Brand marketers said it was difficult to manage information, engage users, identify influencers and keep fresh local and regional content available.

Marketers do believe the global potential is there for social media, with nearly three-quarters saying the channel would be a good way to reach existing and potential customers in local marketers-but they must learn to leverage it first. (emarketer.com, August 2010)

The operator of the dot-travel internet domain plans to drop the existing requirement that owners of dot-travel internet addresses have a functioning website relating to travel.  The move is effective September 20^th, 2010 and is one is one of several changes for the internet domain recently adopted by registry operator Tralliance.

The existing policy requires companies that register a dot-travel address to use the domain name "for a website displaying travel content relevant to the domain name, or in such other manner (such as email) that the Registry may approve after review."

That language will be stricken and replaced with a new policy, yet to be disclosed, that will offer "incentives" for the use of dot-travel names.

On the same date, the company will add a 22nd category of travel company to the list of those eligible for dot-travel addresses. The new category is "creators and providers of travel and tourism products, services and content."   Existing categories include airlines, cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, government tourist offices, travel agents, tour operators, research organizations and "suppliers of goods or services" to eligible industry participants. (Travelweekly.com, August 2010)

Two-thirds of female mobile internet users surveyed said they would be interested in getting coupons on their mobile device, according to a study from mobile campaign services provider miBuys.

Female mobile internet users worldwide who would be interested in receiving coupons via their mobile phone, 2010 (% of respondents):
- Yes: 67.89%
- No: 21.49%
- Not sure: 10.63%

When Honeywell surveyed US internet users in December 2009, 71% said they would not participate in any mobile couponing activities, including receiving, storing or sharing coupons in the mobile channel.

By contrast, respondents to the miBuys survey, who were already visitors to mobile shopping and promotions channels, seemed eager for the convenience of mobile. Only one-third said they were already regular coupon users, though 46% more did use coupons sometimes.

Mobile coupons that are most interesting to female mobile internet users worldwide, 2010 (% of respondents):
- Retail: 53.49%
- Concerts/events: 21.37%
- Dining: 16.23%
- Cinema: 7.31%
- Theatre: 1.60%

(eMarketer, May 2010)