We are now smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, which reaches a fever pitch on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday/American Thanksgiving last weekend of November and maintains a frantic pace until Christmas. Digital marketing agencies around the western world are rushing to secure competitive advantages that will help their clients get found during the busiest shopping month of the year.

At this time of year, digital marketing news and opinion outlets are inundated with advice to help digital marketing agencies “win” the holiday season. From lists of new tools for local marketers, to reviews of online-to-offline features, to tips for reaching ‘discovery-driven, visual-obsessed’ shoppers, marketers have a lot of information to process in a short period of time.

The most vital news or the year, though, is that online shopping could drive more sales than in-store shopping in 2017, according to Deloitte’s 2017 Holiday Retail Survey, which compiled answers from more than 5,000 American consumers.

“The findings showed that 36 percent of holiday budgets will be spent on a desktop or laptop, 10 percent on a smartphone, and 5 percent on a tablet – making up the 51 percent of holiday dollars participants expect to spend online,” Marketing Land reports.

Respondents named a number of reasons they prefer online shopping, including ease of searching, availability of hard-to-find products, and the variety of products and delivery options. Deloitte is also expecting a significant year-over-year increase of between 18 and 21 percent in holiday e-commerce sales.

With more consumers turning to online shopping for the holidays, competition among brands and digital marketing agencies will become much tougher. As a Premier Google Partner All-Star Agency with access to valuable insights on Google’s preferred practices, GrowthEngine Media leverages leading digital marketing tools and techniques to ensure our clients remain more visible than their competitors.

Image credit: Takashi Hososhima/Wikimedia Commons