The holiday season is a key selling period for retailers across all sizes and segments. A key trend this year is shoppers increasingly turning to e-Commerce to cross off their shopping lists.
Even niche retailers, like the RealReal saw groundbreaking results this year, as more consumers used their desktops, smartphones and tablets to browse and buy. The luxury consignment retailer announced key results during the four-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, including a 158% year-over-year increase in overall sales.
The RealReal began promoting Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers starting the week of Thanksgiving, according to a company spokesperson. “Our core Black Friday promotion was a luxury giveaway featuring nine Hermes bracelets and three Shinola watches. Our shoppers hunted through our sales each hour for 12 hours in search of the free item. The giveaway engaged shoppers in a fun way while taking them through all of our great sales — and products — that day.”
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Although the giveaways helped heighten interest, deepen engagement and boost sales, the RealReal continued momentum through the weekend with tiered promotions.
“We’ve been pretty consistent in offering our shoppers compelling promotions and amazing products throughout the holiday season thus far, and will continue to do so through Christmas and into the New Year,” the spokesperson added. “We recently launched our 12 Days of Gifting Campaign, featuring new curated sales every day, chock-full of coveted gift items from designer logos to brilliant diamonds to contemporary art. Additionally, in support of Giving Tuesday we launched our 7 Days of Giving program where 5% of the sales each day for seven days went to seven charities we support.”
Over the holiday weekend, the fine jewelry and watch category saw the greatest increase in sales (1,000%) versus 2013, followed by men’s apparel (361%), fine art (338%) and women’s apparel (95%).
Chanel and Hermes were among the best-selling women’s brands during the holiday weekend, while Gucci was more favored for men’s gifts. Leather goods brand Louis Vuitton was most popular among both men and women. For jewelry, consumers favored items by Cartier, David Yurman and Tiffany & Co.
“During the holidays, nobody wants to miss out on the items they covet for a great deal, especially when there is only one!” the spokesperson concluded. “Therefore, the nature of our business already creates a sense of urgency with shoppers, and it seems more urgent when shopping for holiday gifts. We know that when the product is there, the sales quickly follow. Special giveaways and seasonal promotions create an added bonus in that they attract new shoppers and reward our loyal shoppers.”
