If you want to get a sense of the Super Bowl’s grip on America, the graphs below from Criteo highlight how game day affects the consumer mindset, and how important it is for retailers should be in position early.
The retargeting ad tech firm looked at a large number of U.S. online retailers’ clicks and sales on desktop and on mobile devices on Super Bowl Sunday, February 1st, 2015, to see what kind of impact the game had on their ad campaigns.
Overall, compared to a typical Sunday, retailers saw strong click activity throughout the day. But once kick-off neared, consumers tuned in and retailers experienced a huge drop off in clicks. Activity increased throughout the evening, as is typical, but remained far below average Sunday levels until after the game ended.
Source: Criteo
The click declines came primarily from desktops (more on that below).
Sporting enthusiasts and fans were very active in the hours leading up to the game. There were 49 percent more conversions on Super Bowl Sunday than on an average Sunday. Once the game neared, however Sporting Goods retailers saw click activity decline more than the average retailer.
Source: Criteo
Fashion and luxury activity was brisk in the early hours, but these retailers, too saw clicks nose dive around kick-off. This sector saw stronger click performance than retailers overall in the second-half of the game, perhaps indicating these shoppers lose interest in the game earlier, or are multi-tasking during the game at higher levels.
Source: Criteo
The lower click activity was not a signal of lower ad engagement, however. Criteo says click-through rates overall remained the same as any other ho-hum Sunday.
Mobile Saw Strong Sales Performance
Retailers that weren’t tune in with campaigns on mobile missed out.
Throughout the game, desktop clicks fell significantly while mobile clicks increased. Clicks from both device-types dropped significantly during key moments of the game such as Katy Perry’s half-time show and the suspenseful end of the fourth quarter.
Source: Criteo
The end of the game saw a huge surge in conversions from mobile devices, particularly in the fashion and luxury category. Sales from mobile devices increased by 167 percent in 57 minutes during the later-part of the game, accounting for 53 percent of all sales at 9:13 pm.
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