A reader sent me this:
In September, we reported online sales were holding steady across our client base. As November begins, the situation has become bleaker. Across much of our client base, we see significant signs of the economic slowdown.
For background, our agency manages search for over 100 clients, mostly online retailers, mostly B2C. Our clients spend about $100 million combined on paid search clicks annually.
Here are total PPC-driven sales, aggregated across all our clients, from Monday, June 2, 2008 through Sunday, October 26, 2008.
This is a chart that gives pause. There is a lot more analysis in the post, I urge those interested in these issues to read on.
Thanks for posting this. This is great stuff. When I worked at Fathom Online on the Keyword Price Index, we found that there was a definite correlation between marketer’s expected conversion rate and actual keyword bids. This was demonstrated at the time most notably in mortgages with fluctuations in interest rates causing severe swings in mortgage related keyword prices. We never had a good comparative environment for retail (except for prices to keep rising), but it would not surprise me to see keyword prices struggle a little given lower ROI. That said, any retailer who has a superior customer conversion experience will have the competitive advantage in this market and season.