Tealeaf has released research into the social media buzz around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Using advanced online sentiment analysis from Crimson Hexagon, Tealeaf found that Twitter conversations about online shopping increased 256 per cent on Black Friday and 202 per cent on Cyber Monday compared to a regular shopping day.

“The holiday sales volumes underscore consumers’ growing appetite for online shopping. However, scratching a bit beneath the surface reveals substantial frustration and missed opportunities for retailers. Behind every purchase is an experience that creates a brand advocate or enemy and social media is now the battleground where shoppers take sides,” said Geoff Galat, vice president of worldwide marketing at Tealeaf. “Whether it’s the biggest shopping day of the year or a random Tuesday in August, online customer struggles exist and thanks to social media these experiences become amplified. With website errors, faulty coupon codes and other common customer struggles that would otherwise fly below the radar, retailers are unwittingly driving customers away resulting in more than $44 billion in lost revenue over the course of a year.”

Tealeaf created its Online Shopping Social Media Buzz Report by using Crimson Hexagon’s technology and services to analyse tweets relevant to online shopping from 15 November - 1 December 2010. Despite Cyber Monday producing more than $1 billion in sales – a new online shopping record, Black Friday actually yielded 64 per cent more tweets on the subject. While almost a third of all conversations (31 per cent) were neutral, more than a third (38 per cent) were exuberant about their online shopping. Most of the positive tweets praised the convenience of online shopping with less than 10 per cent mentioning getting a great deal. However, it wasn’t all cheer and merriment on Twitter. Twelve per cent of shoppers dreaded their online shopping experiences, encountering classic customer struggles like payment problems, website issues, and items listed as in stock at the start of an online session, only to be found out-of-stock at check-out.

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