Cyber Monday leaves mark on Ozarks

For small-batch chocolate manufacturer Shawn Askinosie, Cyber Monday is no joke.

Sales on Dec. 1 were up 20 percent, said Askinosie, the CEO and founder of Askinosie Chocolate on Commercial Street. Sales compared to the course of the Black Friday weekend increased by more than 23 percent over the same period in 2013, he said.

“We consider that a success, but it is a pretty stressful thing for a small business. We have just 15 people here,” Askinosie said.

He said roughly 150 orders came in on Dec. 1, typically ranging from $30-$50 apiece. An average Monday in June, by comparison, would net around 10 online orders.

Askinosie’s weekend was reflective of record-breaking Web sales nationally, even as many retail stores drew fewer shoppers indicating a switch in buying habits might be at play.

Cyber Monday sales topped the $2 billion mark for the first time, making it the biggest online shopping day in history.

The $2.04 billion daily sales volume was up 17 percent from a year ago, according to analytics firm ComScore Inc., a researcher of digital data. Online sales from Thanksgiving through Dec. 1 were up 24 percent in 2014 compared to last year, ComScore reported.

Overall Black Friday sales paint a different picture. According to the National Retail Federation, early results from Thanksgiving weekend were estimated to be down 11 percent to $50.9 billion.

PFI Western Wear owner Randy Little said online sales were up by more than 40 percent at his store across Cyber Monday and the holiday shopping weekend.

“We’re doing a special now where if you spend $50, you get a free Boot Daddy hoodie, and that’s been extremely successful,” Little said of the deals that contributed to this year’s growth.

PFI spent between 2 percent and 5 percent more on advertising this year, but Little declined to disclose sales or marketing expenses.

“We put more into social media and more into Web, more into TV and less into radio,” he said.

In recent years, he said the company has tried to grow its holiday business by marketing outside of the Ozarks, in part, through its sponsorship with Professional Bull Riders Inc. and a three-year involvement with national cable program “Larry’s Country Diner.”

Everything Kitchens LLC founder Emily Church said Black Friday Web sales for her largely online company were roughly flat – down by less than 1 percent – but up by more than 30 percent on Cyber Monday.

“It’s becoming less about Black Friday and more about the Black Friday weekend. And it’s starting early,” Church said, noting sales increased nearly 25 percent during the five-day sales period. “I think people are realizing that and not wanting to get trampled.”

At her retail store in Brentwood Center, Church said sales bucked the national trend. In-store sales growth was over 35 percent, besting EverythingKitchens.com’s movement.

Church attributes the growth to increased local advertising. Last year, she said Everything Kitchens advertised with one TV station. This shopping season, it ran promotions with two and a radio station.

Jennifer Jester, owner of Springfield’s School of Rock franchise, was running a Cyber Week promotion Dec. 1–5. The student-focused music training company cut one-third off the price of its upcoming music camps.

The camps range from one-day events that cost $50 to three weeklong camps that regularly cost $450.

She promoted the specials through newsletters and social media. Last year, her first year in business, Jester said the company ran a Cyber Monday special on camps and only had one customer sign up. This year, through the first three days of the promotion, she said five had signed up and several people had contacted her with additional questions.

Nationally, School of Rock was pushing the 33 percent deal for Cyber Monday, but Jester said she had seen other music instructors running a week of deals.

“It just didn’t work that well for us last year, so we extended it to a week to see some more engagement,” Jester said.

Despite lackluster Black Friday results nationwide, NRF maintains its 4.1 percent sales growth forecast for the holiday shopping season.

Askinosie credited a stronger economy and lower gas prices with helping to increase sales at his factory.  

“I think the economy is in a fairly good place right now in terms of the unemployment rate and oil prices, which are at their lowest point in a long time. That’s a big contributor to the economy right now. It’s almost like a tax break,” he said.

“That just gives people more disposable income.”

While Black Friday weekend sales tax figures for Greene County were not available, the Dec. 1 sales tax check – which pulls from purchases made in October – was up 7.7 percent compared to last year, according to the county budget office. Year-to-date sales tax revenue is up 6.1 percent in Greene County.

Noting the company already was operating in the black before the weekend, Askinosie said a 90-minute technical problem on the evening of Dec. 1 could have muted the company’s performance.

“Sales could have been much higher, but our shopping cart went down,” Askinosie said.[[In-content Ad]]