australia: christmas insights 2016

Retail: Christmas Insights 2016AU Bing Network 2016

Overview

1. What to expect from Christmas 20162. Audience search behaviour3. Retail category performance4. Tips to stand out from the crowd5. Checklist

80%of Australian

internet users buy online1

$20.7 BRetail

ecommerce sales1

12.4 MDigital buyers1

Source: 1. eMarketer 2016 Forecaster for 2016 Report.

$1,665online spending

per person1

AU retail snapshot

50%

27%

13%

4%

4%

2%

How customers reach your website during the Festive Season

Source: eMarketer chart: Method Used Most Often to Navigate to Websites According to Internet Users in Select Countries, Nov 2014 (% of respondents).

Use an app

Social media/social network

Referral

Use a bookmark

Direct website visit

Search engine

Retail sales during the festive season

20.4%of total digital retail sales in Australia are from this season

Source: eMarketer chart: Method Used Most Often to Navigate to Websites According to Internet Users in Select Countries, Nov 2014 (% of respondents).

Christmas search behaviour, 2015-2016

+8% +7%

+13% +14%+10% +9%

+11% +12%+14%

+7%

-6%

-14%

+4%+6%

1%

Source: Microsoft Internal data, retails searches AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

Peak purchase searches occur the first week of November and two weeks before Christmas.

OctoberGift inspiration

Grab attention when Christmas searches start

November Peak shopping

Capture sales and entice purchases

DecemberFinal stage

Seize last minute shoppers

JanuaryPrepare for

post-Christmas

sales

Black Friday Week

Christmas Week

Click Frenzy Week

New Year’s Week

Christmas searches start from mid to late October

10%10%11%12%

17%15%

10%10%11%11%13%

18%15%

11%11%11%12%14%

18%16%

13%13%14%17%

19%

19%

18%

17%15%15%18%

Searchers use mobile and tablet near Christmas

Source: Microsoft internal data; Device share of retail search volume in AU market, Sept 2015 - Jan 2016

Mobile and tablet search share on Bing in Dec 2015

TIP: Boost bids on mobile to take advantage of the audience shift during this period.

Christmas Day

Boxing Day

27 December

Top three days for mobile usage across the entire festive period

Mobile/tablet searches peak on weekends

1 December

31 December

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

23/12/2016 Christmas Eve Christmas Day Boxing Day

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

1.7x

Time of searches around Christmas

Source: Microsoft internal data; Device share of Retail search volume in AU market Dec 15

Before Christmas, PC searches lead in daytime, while tablet and mobile lead after dinner and peak at 8 p.m.

On Boxing Day, activity ramps up across devices from 6 a.m., then tablets take the lead and stay busy until 10 p.m.

TIP: Utilise Bid Modifiers to tailor your bidding strategy on time and device.

2.3x 2.1xRetail searches by hour near ChristmasPC, tablet, mobile

Weekend Weekend Weekend

CTR and CPC towards Christmas in Dec 2015

The most cost-effective advertising days in December

Source: Microsoft internal data, CTR & CPC in retail vertical; Dec 2015

High click-through rates and low cost-per-click on Christmas and Boxing Day indicates that the marketplace is still active but competition is relatively low.

1 December 31 December

27 December

Christmas Day

TIP: Increase bids on Boxing Day to take full advantage of the most cost-effective day.

Boxing Day

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

$- $0.05 $0.10 $0.15 $0.20 $0.25 $0.30 $0.35 $0.40 $0.45

Click Frenzy Week

Black Friday Week

79% 79% 79% 79%80%

78% 78% 78%78% 78%

79%

78%

78%

overall searches were non-branded

Gift ideas start from generic searches

Source: Microsoft internal data; AU retail search queries, Sept 2015 - Jan 2016

Christmas Week

People are inspired by generic searches in the months leading up to Christmas. Make sure your ads generate brand awareness and stand out from competitors during this time period.

Christmas retail search queries — Generic search rate

Best time to bid on <brand> and <brand + product> terms is this

stage.

October November December

People tend to perform generic searches for gift ideas on mobile devices

Source: Microsoft internal data; AU retail search queries, Sept 2015 - Jan 2016

Generic search rate by gender

81% 77%

TIP: Use mobile-tailored keywords to capture customers during their research stage, and make sure your generic campaigns are mobile-friendly.

77% 83% 84%

Generic search rate by device

4%

5%

4%

13%

11%

16%

20%

15%

27%

31%

32%

34%

24%

32%

15%

8%

6%

3%

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

Retail Christmas searches are driven by adults aged 35+

Source: Microsoft internal data; AU demographics by device split, AU retail search volume on Bing, Sept 2015 – Jan 2016

More than 55% of AU retail searches on the Bing Network are coming from 35–64 year olds.

Females make 63% of their searches on tablets, while males’ preference slightly skew to mobile.

Retail clicks by gender Retail clicks by age

54%

63%

46%

46%

37%

54%

TIP: Utilise demographic bidding modifier to maximise your reach and convert potential.

Retail category details

Home & Garden

Apparel & Accesso

ries

Auctions &

Trades

Mass Merch

ants

Toys & Hobbies

Flowers/Candy/Gifts/

Greetings/Registe...

Consumer Electronics

Books

Beauty & Personal Care

91% 89% 91% 95% 96% 92% 90% 89% 86%

4% 5% 5%3% 2%

4% 3% 4% 5%

5% 6% 4%2% 2%

5% 7% 7% 9%

Source: Internal data, retail vertical insights AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

PC is still the #1 search device for many seasonal shoppers

Source: Microsoft Internal data, AU retail vertical insights, Sept 2015 – Jan 16

More than 10% of searches in apparel, electronics, books and beauty come from mobile and tablet.

More than 95% of searches in mass merchants and toys & hobbies come from PC.

Retail

Clothing and accessories

-4%

8%

3%7%

9%12% 12%

4%

-11%

Peak period

Christmas retail — clothing and accessories searches by week

Source: Microsoft Internal data, retail vertical insights on search queries, AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

Click Frenzy Week

Christmas Week

Black Friday Week

Clothing and accessories searches increase in late October


2% 2% 1%

Females lead searches in clothing and accessories


Who’s looking for clothing and accessories?

54% of AU clothing and accessories searches on the Bing Network are made by adults ages 35-64.

26%

74%

4% 14% 21% 31% 23% 7%

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

Cost-per-click and click-through rate

Clothing and accessories searches towards Christmas


Plan your Christmas campaigns along with the customer search journey. Gift searches starts in mid October, but people tend to make decisions from the second week of November.


Click Frenzy Week

Christmas Week

Black Friday Week

$-

$0.05

$0.10

$0.15

$0.20

$0.25

$0.30

$0.35

$0.40

$0.45

15%

16%

17%

18%

cocktail dressesboots

jewellerydresses

watchformal dresses

lingeriewedding dresses

suitsfamous footwear

Non-brand behaviour in clothing and accessories

Source: Microsoft Internal data, retail vertical insights, search terms, AU Apr 2016 – Jun 16

TIP: Convert browsers into buyers by using Product Ads.

90% 81%Non-branded

searchesNon-branded

clicks

Branded vs. non-brandedTop non-brand searches

Retail - Tech

Consumer electronics

Christmas retail — consumer electronics searches by week


Electronics searches peak period

Christmas Week


-3%

3%

7%4% 5% 4% 4%

6%

-12%

2% 2%

-2%

Click Frenzy Week

Black Friday Week

Consumer electronics audience is split across genders


Who’s looking for consumer electronics?

52%48%

52% of AU consumer electronics searches on the Bing Network are made by adults ages 35–64.

4% 14% 21% 31% 21% 8%

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

Consumer electronics searches towards Christmas



Plan your Christmas campaigns along with the customer search journey. Gift searches starts in late October, but people tend to make decisions on/after Click Frenzy day.


Click Frenzy Week

Christmas Week

Black Friday Week

$-

$0.10

$0.20

$0.30

$0.40

$0.50

$0.60

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Non-brand behaviour in electronics


80% 72%Non-branded

searchesNon-branded

clicks

Branded vs. non-brandedTop non-brand searches

Retail

Flowers and gifts

Christmas retail — flowers and gifts searches by week


Flowers and gifts searches peak period

Click Frenzy Week

Christmas Week

Black Friday Week

TIP: Make sure your ad copy catches the eye of last-minute shoppers: “express delivery”, “gift wrapping included” etc.

-2%-6%

October November

December

-25%-18% -15%

7%

-13%

13%

28%32% 33%

25%

Females lead searches in flowers and gifts


Who’s looking for flowers and gifts?

32%

68%

55% of AU flower and gift searches on the Bing Network are made by adults ages 35-64.

3% 12% 22% 31% 24% 8%

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

Flowers and gifts searches towards Christmas



Plan your Christmas campaigns along with the customer search journey. Gift searches starts in late November with easy and quick conversions.


Click Frenzy Week

Christmas Week

Black Friday Week

$-

$0.10

$0.20

$0.30

$0.40

$0.50

$0.60

$0.70

$0.80

$0.90

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

gift hampers

toys

gift cards

gifts

flowers online

florist

hampers

gift card

flowers

gift ideas

Non-brand behaviour in flowers and gifts


Branded vs. non-branded

Non-branded searches

Non-branded clicks

Top non-brand searches

95% 93%

Grab attention on the search page1.Product Ads2.Brand term bidding

Effectively compel actions3.Ad extensions4.Ad copy5.Remarketing in Paid Search

campaigns

Hints and tips to stand out

Product ads

Ad extensions

• Shoes• Beauty products• Furniture and homewares• Flowers• Airline tickets• Hotels and car rental• Deals and coupons

• Toys and games• Laptops and tablets• Clothing• Home appliances• Accessories • Mobile phones

Bing aims for more engaging retail experiencesIn the last months of the year, more Australian consumers are driven to Bing during key retail periods, including Click Frenzy, Black Friday and Christmas gift shopping.Increased retail clicksRetail carousels on Bing aim to increase clicks and engagements with key retail categories*:

Bing is a destination for shoppers leading up to Christmas

*Screenshot and categories for illustration purposes only

Stand outAttract attention with images of your products.

More real estateShow more than one Product Ad on the same search results page.

Product Ads grab attention on the search page

TIP: Already have a Google AdWords shopping campaign? Import it directly into your Bing Ads account.

During an internal study of 25 million retail clicks, Bing found that brand term bidding yielded a 64% lift in incremental paid and organic clicks.Bidding on your own brand terms means potentially fewer clicks to competitors.

Brand term bidding grabs attention on the search page

Source: Microsoft Internal data, Bing Ads Brand Term Bidding Study US, March 2016

52% 85%

48%

15%

Organic only Brand ad + organic

Brand term bidding

Your competitor

You

Empower your ads with ad extensions

Callout Extensions

Extended Sitelinks, Review Extensions

Location Extensions, seller ratings, Call Extensions

Action Link Extensions, App Extensions

Why to buy

Drive action from searchers with ad extensions

Reach shoppers at each stage of their decision journey.

What to buy Where to

buy

Most convenient way to buy

+3% +5%

+15% +17%

7%

+2%

Ad Extension click-through rate performance – PC

Equip your campaigns with Enhanced Sitelinks and Location Extensions to boost CTR.

Source: Microsoft Internal data, Retail vertical Ad Extension insights AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

4%+2% +3% +4%

+15%

+18%

+3%

Utilising ad extensions increases CTR from mobile and tablet users.

Ad Extension click-through rate performance – mobile and tablet

Source: Microsoft Internal data, Retail vertical Ad Extension insights AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

Drive conversions with ad copy and Remarketing in Paid Search

Free delivery Loyalty points Quick and easy checkout

Easy return Coupons and discounts

71%

40% 40% 38% 36%

What motivates online shoppers?

Primary factors that trigger digital purchases in Australia1

Source: Global Web Index data, % of Australia’s online audience aged 16+ who had purchased a product online in the past month via any device, Q2 2016

Sense of urgency• Elicit action by making your CTA time

sensitive.TIP: “only”, “ending soon”, “now”

Emotion• Know what your customers need and

build a connection with them.TIP: “avoid xxx”, “no xxx fees”

Framing effect• Test and find out the best framing

effect in your ad title, description, CTA and URL.TIP: “save big” or “big savings”

Lively verbs• Different words will influence and shape

people’s perception.TIP: “give presents” “surprise gifting”

Four ways to get more conversions with smarter ad copy

Source: Microsoft internal study, The Art & Science of Ad Copy Testing 2016

Pricing and value

perception drivers

Be specific with your product offeringsCreate urgencyTIP: “buy one, get one free”, “don’t miss out”, “further discount”

Descriptive adjectives

Tailor adjectives to productsUse superlativesTIP: “freshest”, “newest”, “indulgent”

Call to action (CTA)

Be time sensitive with your CTATIP: “order now”, “join today”

Delivery incentives

Express shipping is always favouredOrder/Click and collect is a new popular methodTIP: “order and collect”, “48-hour delivery”

Increase conversion potential with smarter ad copy

Source: Microsoft Internal data, Retail vertical Ad copy insights AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16,

Your Ads

User returns to your assigned site/page

Remarketing in Paid Search campaigns: another opportunity for conversions

It helps to reconnect, entice first-time visitors to come back and complete a transaction.

Visitor Your website User added in remarketing

list

Visitor leaves Former visitor searches on

Bing Network

Your ad is served

Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-165%

7%

9%

11%

13%

15%

17%

1.3X

74%

Remarketing in Paid Search campaigns: another opportunity for conversions

1.5Xhigher CTR, and90% higher CTR for mobile and tablet in the festive season

more clicks in November

of Remarketing clicks occurred on weekdays

CTR – Retail Remarketing in Paid Search campaigns

Date range: last Christmas season (from Sep-15 to Jan-16)

Retail Remarketing in Paid Search campaigns have seen increased CTR near Christmas.

Source: Microsoft internal data, retail remarketing insights, AU Sept 2015 – Jan 16

Be there ahead of time Set budgets to accommodate increases in

traffic. Upload Christmas campaigns early in

October. Double check to make sure all relevant

accounts and campaigns are active. Follow up on any rejected ads. Add new relevant and emerging keywords.Optimise keywords, ads and bids Opt into broad match to capture new

queries and add negatives as needed. Leverage the right combination of ad

extensions. Test ad copy variations. Set bids in anticipation of increased

competition on key days. Apply bid boosting to take advantage of key

audiences.

Manage your Product Ads with Bing Shopping Campaigns Refresh your product feed often to keep it fresh. Upload

a new feed at least every 30 days to avoid going dark. Use high quality images and do not include text within

your images. Make sure to implement sales price and sale price

effective date into your feed for pre- and post- Christmas sale items.

Apply larger bids to your best-selling items. Use reporting to monitor performance and correct

rejected items to ensure the entire feed is eligible to serve.

Leverage custom labels to group items based on various business objectives.

Enhance targeting capabilities by using the brand, condition, category, product type and custom labels fields.

Put as many relevant keywords in the product title and description as possible and continue to add exact negative keywords.

Use the priority settings during the Festive Season to focus on your Christmas campaign and sale items.

Leverage this checklist to maximise campaign success

Make the most out of this Christmas season

TIP: Make sure your campaigns aren’t going dark while you are out enjoying the Christmas season. Download the Bing Ads App to monitor your account on the go.

January• Use value

perception drivers to stimulate further sales

• Cater for New Year planners with “new/refresh..” in your ads

December• Create solutions

in ad copy (e.g. “express delivery”)

• Prepare for Boxing Day

Late Nov.• Prepare budgets

along with search peaks, like Click Frenzy and Black Friday

• Create urgency in ad copy

Early Nov.• Focus on

branded and hot holiday items

• Test different ad copy combinations to find the best performing ads for your brand and products

October• Focus on

generic keywords to grab attention and generate awareness

• Consider “best…” searches

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The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation.

Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted as a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the dateof this presentation.

Microsoft MAKES NO WARRANTIES–EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY–REGARDING THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

australia: christmas insights 2016

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