According to USA Today

The online deals site, reporting for the first time as a public company, said its fourth-quarter revenue nearly tripled, but it lost money and its shares fell sharply after hours.

Groupon’s net loss totaled $42.7 million, or 8 cents per share, for the final three months of 2011. A year earlier, as a private company, it booked a larger loss of $378.6 million, or $1.08 per share.

The company said its adjusted loss was 2 cents per share in the latest quarter. On this basis, analysts were expecting a profit of 3 cents per share, according to FactSet.

So what can the poster child for CEO shenanigans, Andrew Mason, say to this kind of result? Oooops maybe?

The company actually generated more revenue than most analysts expected. Starting with that fact is usually a pretty good sign. So why did they end up losing 2 cents per share versus the expected 3 cents per share profit that analysts predicted?

Groupon said an unusually high international tax rate hurt the quarter’s adjusted results.

Huh? Did they not anticipate these taxes? Are they being taxed on an “As you go” basis? This is a weak excuse for weak performance. Investors agreed to some degree as the stock lost over 9% after the earnings were announced.

I know I have personally stopped the deluge of daily deal e-mails I was getting buried with via Living Social, Amazon Deals, Google Offers and Groupon. They all start to look the same. I suspect that the overload from these deal sites has caused me to miss some deals that would have worked for me. The way I look at it is that I am not spending extra money on things that would be extra for me. I have enough on my plate as is. It’s just likely that I am not the right target for sites like this.

Where are you with regard to the daily deal deluge? Are you getting the value you once did from Groupon and other deal sites? Is this a long term play that will be a viable business model (considering the scale issues) for the long term?

So we ask, what’s the deal?

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A new survey from PriceGrabber shows that 68% of shoppers will spend under $100 on Valentine’s Day, most spending between $25 and $50. For most shoppers, this is about the same as last year.

4% of loved ones are going to be in for a shock when their partner comes home empty handed.

In addition to buying for their spouse, 36% of shoppers said they’ll be buying for other relatives, including their kids. Only 17% said they’d be forking out for the boyfriend or girlfriend. What’s up with that?

How Do I Love Thee?

35% thought a greeting card would best express their thoughts of love. 32% are preparing for a romantic evening out. Candy beat out flowers 19% to 17% and 11% said they planned to buy clothing. Brave souls.

Only 9% planned to wrap up jewelry this Valentine’s Day. A number much lower than I expected. Not that jewelers are crying over it, since it takes 500 greeting card sales to equal one diamond bracelet.

The majority of shoppers said they would be done buying a week before the holiday, but 22% are still open to suggestions.  Brick-and-mortar stores have a better chance of getting that dollar at this point, but onliners aren’t out yet. A whopping 42% of shoppers said they’d be watching the daily deal sites for a gift idea. And what a great way to get more for their money.

If you’re marketing to the Valentine’s Day crowd, hone in on those last minute men who have had the Super Bowl on their mind. Push low priced gift items with overnight shipping. (They’ll pay rather than get caught out, I promise.)

Digital items also make the perfect last minute gift, be it romantic ebooks, The Best of Barry White mp3 or a gift certificate for spa services. All your customers need is a nudge, so get those Valentine’s Day emails out, set up a holiday page on your website and tell your customers what their loved ones would love to have on February 14th.

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Amy Kunkle owns Food for All Market, a specialty grocer in Philadelphia that sells food items for the very allergic. As you can imagine, it’s not the biggest store in town, it has a small, but loyal client base and up until recently, made enough to pay the bills.

Then Groupon called and convinced Ms. Kunkle that she could increase her business by offering a $15 for $30 worth of merchandise coupon. Of that amount, she would get $7.50, Groupon would get $7.50 and she’d eat the rest in the name of marketing.

What wasn’t agreed upon was a cap. Groupon sold 450 coupons and Food for All Market went belly up. In an interview with a local newspaper, Ms. Kunkle estimates that she lost nearly $10,000 on the deal.

But remember, I said this was good news – because the store’ customers came to her rescue when they read about her plight. She was offered low-interest loans and free labor. With everyone’s help, Food for All Market will reopen for business in February.

Over in Chagrin Fall, Ohio, a similar story unfolded; a show of support for a local hardware store that had been in business since 1857.

This time, it wasn’t a bad business decision that caused the problem. It was simply the economy, coupled with construction and the rise of the big box store. Jim Black didn’t want to see the family-run business go under, so he sent out an email challenging his friends to spend $20 in the shop one Saturday and it snowballed from there.

On the 21st, a “cash mob” showed up at the hardware store and the register didn’t stop ringing until long after closing. No final total was announced, but for the owners of the store, it wasn’t just about the money. They were blown away by the community response and I imagine the shoppers were equally excited by what they accomplished.

In these two cases, the internet giveth and the internet taketh away. One small business nearly destroyed by the daily deal phenomena, another saved by a simple, shareable email.

Come on marketers, how about spreading some of your genius around? Instead of promoting your own company this week, why not offer a hand to another small business. Help someone set up a Facebook page, come up with a great gimmick or organize your own “cash mob” day. I can’t promise you that your good works will come back to you two-fold, but I like to think they will.

In this, I am not alone. Look at this chart from a new survey by Hearst Magazines and Fleishman-Hillard International Communications.

The women surveyed. . .

Well, two out of three ain’t bad. The numbers come from part four of the Women, Power and Money series of reports. This one is called “Game-Changers: Women Defining the New American Marketplace.“

What they found overall is that women feel responsible for the well-being of their families. That need to help often extends out to their co-workers and friends of both the physical and virtual kind.

In 2011, more than 50% of the women said they regularly influence purchasing decisions of friends and family. This is up from 31% in 2008.

33 percent had recommended a product or service in the past six months; while 19 percent recommended that someone not buy a specific product or service.

That last part really hurts.

The study shows that women are even more careful about how and where they spend their money. Much of this is due to economic stress. A full 75% of women said they shop differently than they did before the recession. 71% agreed that life is now more complex.

Choosey Moms Choose. . .

Being an informed shopper was important to most of the women in the study. They used the internet to research purchases and they also relied heavily on recommendations from others. 84% of millennials said they have or haven’t purchased an item based on a recommendation from a friend or family member.

51% said using social media to talk about what they’ve purchased makes them fell empowered. 66% said shopping was more of a game than a chore.

When it comes to choosing a product, quality and price were the biggest factors. They also want companies to provide details about the materials used in the product, reviews from users, craftsmanship notes, and elements of design and style.

The study notes that only 6% of women were interested in a company’s environmental or community impact. Guess those days are over.

Now check this out:

Price and quality, once again, top the list. What didn’t make the top 10? Celebrity endorsements, “tugging at the heartstrings” and a catchy jingle. See that Hallmark, we will no longer be easily led by your tissue-invoking ads, so just stop!

The study, which you can view for free, covers even more ground than I’ve mentioned here. If you market specifically to women, I’d recommend you give it at least a skim.

The bottom line is that women are taking charge of their spending and they won’t be swayed by flash and glitter. They want a good product at a good price and if you provide that, they’ll reward you with good word of mouth. Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

The study took a look at the behaviors of “Xtreme Shoppers” around the globe. They don’t offer a clear definition of which shoppers fall into this category, but they’re definitely people you want on your side.

Europe has a larger concentration of xtreme shoppers with Russia and the UK taking the lead, well over the US. What’s really fascinating is how folks on the two sides of the globe answered the following shopping questions.

Note the big difference in regard to couponing and deals. The US shoppers eat that stuff up, while the European shoppers put it last on their wish list.  I wonder how much of this behavior is a response to availability or are we here in the US simply bigger, penny-pinchers?

Where Europe does dominate is in their use of the internet for shopping. Europe also beat the US in regard to increased online shopping. 82% of the respondents in Poland said they’re using the internet more often, the overall percentage for Europe was 67% but only 62% for the US. Germany came in last with only 52% of respondents noting an increase in online shopping.

Shopping with a mobile device is also on the rise. Russia and Spain topped the charts with more than 33%. Europe overall came in at 25%, only slightly above the US. (Asia and South America were not included in the study.)

Finally, when asked about customer loyalty, shoppers around the world said they want to be rewarded for their business or they’ll go elsewhere. And they really mean it. More than 90% of respondents in Russia, Poland and France agreed with that statement. Tough markets. I wonder how they’d feel about a coupon for 25% off their next order?

The entire article is a great mix of basic marketing manners and innovations that use mobile and other digital options to enhance the in-store experience. But there are also ideas that the strictly online retailer can use as well.

Reward Loyalty

Home decor flash sales site One Kings Lane surprised 6,900 of its best customers with a special gift that shipped the first two weeks of November. Based on purchase history, shoppers received taper candles, a silver pitcher or an inlaid bone box.

If you’ve been reading my daily posts (you have been reading, them, haven’t you?), then you know this is one of my mantras. Reward, reward, reward. Getting customers is hard enough, keeping them is harder. Don’t let them get wooed away by coupon codes and deals from the competitor. Tell your best customers that you appreciate their business with a reward. Preferably one that doesn’t come with strings attached.

Using Mobile for More than a Laugh

UK retailer Kiddiecare adds QR codes to shelf tags that link customers to product videos. Says STORES:

“Customers can use their mobiles, select the QR code and watch the video on their mobile on the shop floor, rather than having to wait for staff during busy times,” Chris Wood, video production/project manager for Kiddicare, told Video-Commerce.org. “Sometimes the floor can be really crammed with people, and staff can’t keep up with demands.”

When done right, a video makes an excellent online sales person. It’s a fast way of presenting the features and benefits of a product. It’s especially helpful for mobile shoppers since a 2 minute video is easier to deal with than scrolling through pages of product details.

Video demos have influenced my decision to purchase phone apps, electronics and even a musical instrument. There’s no substitute for getting your hands on a product before buying. For online retailers, video is the next best thing.

Out of the Box Thinking

This last idea comes wrapped in caution tape. The example STORES uses is an invention designed to stop bad breath. After spending thousands on infomercials and getting no results. The creator turned the idea over to a class of young marketing students who created a viral video. The product was picked up by a few Walmart stores and then the creator took a big chance:

Orabrush purchased Facebook ads targeting users in Northwest Arkansas, home of the retail giant. The ad read: “Walmart employees have bad breath … Walmart needs to carry Orabrush! It will sell better than anything in your store.”

Within 48 hours, Walmart e-mailed; after a few more e-mails, Orabrush geared up production to meet the 735,000-unit order.

I’m amazed that such a juvenile tactic would work, but I suppose it’s possible. Certainly, out of the box thinking has launched more than one company. How far out of the box is the question.

Before going too far afield, think about your customer and what they might find amusing or offensive. We’ve seen cases where controversial campaigns succeed and we’ve seen others that brought big companies to their knees. This is dangerous territory but it could also be the kick your company needs to go from barely breaking even to major hit.

Want more inspiration? Read 20 Ideas Worth Stealing at STORES.org.

If you imagine that connected shoppers are young people who can’t survive without their mobile phone, think again. Their survey showed that more than half of connected shoppers surveyed where women with a mean age of 40.

She owns multiple internet-connection devices and not surprisingly, she enjoys Facebook and shopping excites her. Can’t get a better customer than that.

When shopping digitally, 87% said they prefer to use a website even if they get there via a mobile device. Only 4% said they shop via a mobile app, but I think that’s less about the experience and more about the lack of availability. I did a large percentage of my holiday shopping online or using my iPhone or iPad and I don’t recall seeing many app options. I did use a catalog app on my iPad to find a gift, but when it came time to buy, the app sent me to the store website. So I’m not sure that counts. Same for Shopkick and Old Navy’s app which I used to see what was on sale.

As a tablet owner, I’m part of the 87% who used them to shop this past holiday season. The infographic shows that nearly half of owners expect to use their tablets to shop even more this coming year. One surprise, 34% of tablet owners say they’re shopping on Facebook and I find that extraordinarily high.

The bottom of the infographic breaks down shopping by device and category. As you can well imagine, the most used category for mobile phones is music with 42%. Books and electronics come in at 35%.

Desktops beat both mobile and tablets in all categories except music, and oddly, jewelry. Best category for tablets is electronics. This speaks to the early adopters who are always on the lookout for the next, great techy thing.

Here’s the full infographic from Zmags, click on it to enjoy it in all it’s colorful glory.

Times haven’t changed all that much. Today, parents are still avoiding the aisles by doing a large amount of toy shopping online. Even when they don’t buy online, the internet is influencing their decisions on what to buy. Check out this chart from the new Google study “The Role of Digital in the Toy Shopper’s Journey.”

As you can see, online toy sales have climbed quite a bit in the last seven years. And why not? Online allows parents to shop when their kids are in bed and it allows them to pinpoint exactly what they want. Or rather, what they’re kids want. 67% of toy purchasers were significantly influenced by children. This is because parents know that when Johnny asks for a Power Ranger Samurai Megazord Action Figure, a generic, plastic robot simply won’t do.

The Google study found that toy shoppers hit an average of three different resources before buying. Online retailer sites was the most often used resource (44%) with video sharing sites coming in next at 43%. That one perplexes me. Are they watching toy demo videos? Ads for specific toys? How does video fit into this puzzle?

Search and manufacturer’s sites both scored 39%. Traditional offline advertising such as TV, newspapers and magazines never rose above 24%.

Toy Shopping Goes Mobile

Only 18% of shoppers said they use a mobile device when looking for toys. The vast majority preferred to use their home computer. I wonder if this is more about the average toy buyer demographic and less about the mechanics of mobile shopping.

The study found that most people used their phone for pre-purchase research. 50% used it to compare prices and 32% read reviews. What’s really interesting is that after researching 31% went to a store to purchase the item and only 25% continued with their purchase online.

Looks like mobile still has a ways to go.

Are you in the toy biz? Now that your busy season is over you have time to peruse the full “The Role of Digital in the Toy Shopper’s Journey” study. It’s 37 slides of interesting insights into how toy shoppers decide what to buy.

Personally, I believe shoes are like cars. As long as they get you where you’re going, that’s all I care about. But I hear tell, that shoe buying can be a karmic experience for some women and so you would think that the bigger the better, but not in this case.

JustFab, like several other high-end product sites, is going for quality over quantity and they’re topping it off with personalized customer service. Just take their patented personalty quiz and every month you’ll get a selection of shoes chosen just for you. Pick your pair and it’s automatically delivered for the same $39.95 price every month.

The whole thing reminds me of those Columbia House Video days. Pick your favorite TV show then sit back and wait for each outrageously expensive volume to land on your doorstep.

It was a good idea then and an even better idea now that we have the internet. Now, e-commerce stores can offer a variety of choices each month and customize selections for different user groups. But not too much variety. These clubs work because they feel small and exclusive. Choosing from 100 pairs of shoes isn’t special. Picking between only two designer stilettos is cool. There’s also the built-in deadline factor. Once you sign up, you’re getting shoes every month unless you opt-out.

As I’ve made perfectly clear, I don’t do shoes. But I do love food and other goodies. I subscribe to several online clubs including a brand new concept from Quarterly where you sign up to get a box of surprises from an industry celeb.

I think we’ll be seeing even more e-commerce club sites popping up throughout the year. They may even become the new “deal” site. Because as much as we love saving money, we also love saving time and these club sites are a one-stop shop for the coolest items in their category.

Do you have any experience running or buying from a club program. We’d love to hear about it.

Compared to the same shopping weeks last year, 2011 came in 15% higher. And here’s a chart that lays it all out for you in black and white.

Okay, so they probably didn’t actually check in with every website and it’s not that I don’t trust their numbers but I do wonder how they arrived at this total. . .

Anyway, let’s take a second to bask in the joy of these numbers. Look at Cyber Monday with a 22% increase. And what’s with these new special days, “Green Monday” and “Free Shipping Day?” Next we’ll have “Deep, Deep Discount Day” and “Last Chance Day” for all those who wait until the last minute.

Seriously, look at the week ending December 25. Remember, this is online e-commerce. I wonder how much was paid out in overnight shipping fees in order to get all of that merchandise to arrive in time. (Maybe those numbers were boosted by Best Buy customers who had to start over again!)

Downloads Galore

comScore also totaled up the download sales on Christmas Day and guess what they found? Digital content and subscriptions accounted for more than 20% of online sales on December 25. On an average day in December, downloads only account for 2.8%.

Looks like a lot of people got tablets, e-readers and smartphones under the tree this year.

Any predictions for holiday 2012? Better numbers? Worse? Or about the same?

The survey, which was conducted by random sample by Nielsen for The Conference Board, showed an improvement in both current conditions and hope for the new year.

The Present Situation Index increased to 46.7 from 38.3. 16.6% said the business conditions are “good,” up from 13.9%.

There was also in increase in those who thought available jobs were “plentiful” and an almost equal decrease in those who said jobs were “hard to get.’

What’s really encouraging is the outlook for the future. The Expectations Index rose to 76.4 from 66.4. A higher percentage expected business to improve and they anticipated more available jobs in the near future.

Higher consumer confidence should translate into higher sales for marketers but Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center warns us not to get too comfortable.

“While consumers are ending the year in a somewhat more upbeat mood, it is too soon to tell if this is a rebound from earlier declines or a sustainable shift in attitudes.”

I choose to believe its a sign that 2012 will be a great year. Who’s with me?

Livejournal recently released a statement about their success and it is pretty amazing, mostly because it’s a singularly Singaporean phenomenon. They say the businesses are mostly small, home-based operations that have grown organically as an inexpensive way of getting started.

Right now, says LJ, only 10% are earning more than USD $1,500 a month but that’s nothing to cry about. Top earners are pulling in as much as USD $15,000 a month selling mostly clothing, beauty item and tech items.

What’s fascinating here is how people are earning good money with extremely basic sites. Take a look at The Closet Lover. The site is a simple blog, with more photos than text and not a lot of choices. No shopping cart. No credit cards. It’s the online equivalent of flea market shopping and it’s working.

Roshni Mahtani, CEO of Tickled Media, the publisher of LiveJournal in the South-East Asian markets, said,

“With the Singapore e-commerce market estimated at USD $1.2 billion this year, we are proud that LiveJournal drives 6% of that. We believe blogshopping will continue to grow here as e-commerce represents the most cost-effective way to do business.”

The question is, can it work here?  LiveJournal is supporting the Singapore trade by featuring blogshops on their home page. The US home page features journals dedicated to pop-culture and creativity. Surely there are US LiveJournal users that sell items through the site. I use the site a couple of times a week and haven’t seen one, but my travels are admittedly limited.

Here in the US, home-based businesses flourish on eBay and Etsy, so why aren’t they taking off on LiveJournal? What is it that makes it work in Singapore but not here?

Do US shoppers have a higher expectation when shopping online? Not taking credit cards is somewhat of a barrier, but Paypal fixes that. Is it that we’re more leery of buying from a site that looks like someone is running it as a hobby? I don’t know, but I’m intrigued.

What do you think? Why are blogshops flourishing in Singapore? And is it a good thing or bad thing that it’s not taking off here in the US?

I had instant Black Friday flashbacks. Seriously? 5 a.m.? I used to be a big post holiday shopper, but like 44% of the people Consumer Reports polled, I can’t deal with the crowds.

Consumer Reports also says that the holiday shopping season will continue until the ball drops in Times Square as 4 out of 10 Americans say they’re still shopping.

82% are hoping to take advantage of post-holiday sales. And a quick look around, says there are plenty of deals to be had. Stores aren’t just marking down holiday items, they’re clearing the shelves.

It’s not just the brick and mortar stores, either. Online retailers are still offering big discount codes. Target, Kohl’s, even Amazon is slashing prices online.

But it’s not all money in the bank for retailers. 31% of those polled said they’ll be returning gifts this week, and 47% are redeeming gift cards. That’s my plan. I got a gift card earlier this month, for a store that is known for putting their gift baskets on clearance after Christmas. That means I’ll get more for my money than I would have if I’d redeemed the gift certificate last week.

Of those staying home, 44% said they were “simply sick of shopping” and 20% said they were out of money. I hear that. . . but I still went online and bought a pair of sneakers today thanks to a hefty gift code from my favorite shoe site.

Never underestimate the power of a deal.

BestBuy.com was one of the big winners for the month. They ranked #1 in their category with 35.3 million visitors and #2 on the list of top gainers with a 78% increase.

Most companies would be celebrating, but Best Buy is now feeling nothing but pain for their efforts. Seems their heavy advertising push and slashed prices (to compete with Walmart and Amazon) made them a little too popular. The company sent out notices to a large number of customers saying that they have to cancel their orders, orders that were gauaranteed to arrive by Christmas.

Now Best Buy is facing a firestorm as angry customers take over their forum and the news media blasts them for Grinch-like behavior. Best Buy claims they oversold some of their products like laptops and HD TV’s, but could it be that they underpriced themselves into a hole and thought canceling was the only way out?

Consumer electronics was up 28% overall. In addition to BestBuy.com, eBay Electronics, RadioShack and Buy.com did well.

Toys R Us was another obvious winner in November. They popped up 34% to 28.9 million web visitors. LEGO sites, Disney Shopping and AmericanGirl.com also saw nice bumps in traffic.

50% off Diamonds

comScore’s numbers showed a 112% jump in visits to coupon sites in November. Groupon took the lead with 11.8 million visitors, LivingSocial with 4.2 million. As expected, BlackFriday.info had the biggest rise in the category with a 756% increase in visitors.

Yes, we love a deal, but some are still willing to splurge. Luxury Goods rose 23%. 6pm.com was the leader, followed by Zale, BradfordExchange, Coach and Kay Jewelers. (So apparently not EVERY kiss begins with Kay.)

Want more details? You can download the comScore Media Metrix report for free when you click here.

But how many of you think beyond sites such as Groupon or LivingSocial? How many of you have thought about running your own flash sales inside your own retail site?

I know the folks at Monetate have been thinking about it, because they created a nifty infographic all about it and they told me I could share it with you.

Take a moment to review it and I’ll meet you on the other end.

First thing of note is that flash sales aren’t just for deal-specific websites. Any online retailer can create the same kind of scenario on their own website with a lots of planning and a little creativity.

The reason deal sites work is because they create a sense of urgency. They also promote a kind of “keeping up with the Joneses” effect by showing you how many other people bought the deal. If 253 people thought it was worth it, then I need one, too.

The secret is right there in your own mailing list. Look at the open and conversion rates for flash sale emails. A 56% rise in the click-to-open rate is massive.

A few years ago, this idea of running a two-hour sale wouldn’t have gone over very well. Today, dedicated shoppers use their smartphones to check email and get push notifications nearly every hour of the day. Some people can’t function without their phone in their hands, and that means they’re ready to jump on a sale with only a few hours’ notice.

Monetate has some important tips for conducting your own flash sale and as a consumer, I say pay attention. There’s nothing worse than clicking through a sale email only to be confused by where to go next. And don’t let me think the deal is still in effect when it isn’t. Make it clear that the sale is over and suggest the shopper follow your Facebook and Twitter so they don’t miss out next time.

It may seem counter-intuitive to run a sale for a limited amount of time, but as the infographic shows, half of all flash sale purchases happen in the first hour. Run a sale for a full weekend and your customers are likely to put off buying until later and for most of them, later will never come.

Have you ever run a flash sale on your own retail site? We’d like to hear about your experiences, good and bad.

There have been reports that say the deal site is on the decline, but couponing is up, to the point where people say deals give them a thrill. Paypal is betting that deals are still good business, if you can find a new way to spin it.

PayPal President Scott Thompson says the company will be moving into the deal space in early 2012, but with a twist.

“The experience is going to be completely different than anyone else’s, through and through. We’ll only give you something that we think fits the category of unique and relevant. Everyone else is going to bombard you.”

I’m a fan of Paypal, but surely all of the other deal companies went into the space with the same raison d’être. Exciting! New! Just for you! Scan the space today and you’ll find the usual discounts on spa treatments, dental services and odd adventures.

Now here’s where Paypal has the advantage. They can use their “knowledge about customers’ preferences” to offer targeted deals. Does that mean they’ll be scanning my list of Paypal purchases in order to pick out the right deals for me? Being a coupon fanatic, I don’t mind, but I imagine there will be folks who object. It’s kind of like your local bank getting into the daily deal biz.

Paypal’s other advantage is the ability to go mobile. They want to send you offers as you walk by a partner store or restaurant. From a marketing standpoint, that’s power, especially when you note that Paypal has 103 million members.

A new survey by CouponCabin.com shows that 49% of US Adults felt a thrill or a rush when using a coupon. The survey doesn’t elaborate on why but from personal experience I can say that watching the numbers drop on the cash register is akin to seeing coins drop out of a slot machine. Kaching, kaching — that’s found money.

Retail Therapy

Shopping isn’t just a necessary evil, it’s also a source of fun, a reward, and a form of therapy. 53% of adults surveyed said they have “celebrated good news by buying something or going shopping for themselves.”

1 in 4 shoppers have engaged in “retail therapy” which is when you shop in response to a bad mood. The behavior was twice as common in women but the results weren’t always stellar.

16% said that retail therapy didn’t help their mood and 15% said they felt guilty afterward.

In general, 31% of adults said they felt guilty buying for themselves when they didn’t need anything. 41% went so far as to hide purchases from their spouse. Most said they hid only gifts, but a small percentage said they did it because they were embarrassed by the purchase itself, the number of items bought or because they strayed from their budget.

Sounds like all those bad feelings could have been set right, if only the shoppers had used a coupon to get a better deal. $10 off a $30 purchase? I’m there, whether I need it or not.

How much of your shopping this year has been online? More? Less? Do you still get out and press the flesh with those offliners? Sound off on this good Monday morning.

E-Commerce company Monetate put together an infographic that looks at the impact of mobile and tablets versus desktops. The data represents only online shopping from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.

Right off the bat, you can see that the desktop lost a little ground this year when compared to last year. Mobile rose from 3.1% to 7.36%, a nice little bump, but I expected it to be higher. And the conversion rates are not so good, but that’s to be expected given the difficulty of processing a shopping cart on a tiny screen.

Tablets are a surprise, rising from almost nothing (1.06%) in 2010, to 4.68% in 2011.

Take a minute to review the infographic and I’ll meet you at the bottom.

So, where do we go from here? I say tablets are going to run right over mobile next holiday season. They may not be in common usage now, but with so many non-ipad (cough *less expensive*) tablets making their way to market, that tide is going to change.

eMarketer predicts that 1 in 3 Americans will own a tablet by 2014. Will that be enough for tablets to unseat desktops as the main device for online shopping? I’m betting on tablets landing a close second within the next three years.

What’s your prediction?

Acosta Sales and Marketing has released a new report called “The Why Behind the Buy.” The report is all about trends in grocery shopping and what retailers and marketers can do to stay ahead of the game.

In general, Acosta found that consumers are more conservative than they’ve been in the past and that this behavior is the “new normal.” It’s happening because shoppers are spending 3% more on an average grocery run but they’re getting a lot less. As the main grocery shopper in my house, I can say for sure that that fact is true.

In order to survive, consumers are switching to less expensive brands, consolidating shopping trips, 50% said they stock up when an item goes on sale and coupons are more popular than ever.

Planning is also key and that’s where apps and websites come in. While the old fashioned paper circular is still the main source of information, 33% of those surveyed said they use apps and websites to plan. Mostly, they used these sources to find coupons, but they also used apps to create shopping lists and look up recipes.

When communicating with brands and stores, email is still the number one choice. Related website visits have dropped off slightly in favor of new tech such as social networking and texting.

The experts at Acosta say it’s time for brands to get creative with digital and mobile assets. They recommend using QR codes and displays to send shoppers online while they’re still in the store. Expanding beyond the coupon to tips, recipes and shopping lists, and using social networking to stay in touch with the customer.

There’s lots more info for grocery or coupon marketer in the “The Why Behind the Buy” report. All it will cost you is your contact information.