Dear Channel Partner, Welcome to our latest newsletter edition dedicated to the upcoming retail season and the flurry of seasonal peak moments just around the corner. As we prepare to embrace this dynamic period, we're excited to share valuable insights that will equip you for a successful and thriving season ahead. Discover expert tips, trends, and strategies to ensure your retail endeavours are primed to make the most out of these bustling seasonal peaks. Furthermore, this month the first Channel Partner Pulse Call has been hosted. Find the recording below. 
| Peak Season Preparation | 
| Holiday 2023 insights | 
| Channel Partner Pulse Call | 
| DMEXCO |
Peak Season Preparation
Retail Season Guide Introducing the Retail Season Cheat Sheet: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigating the Seasons with Success! This one sheeter is designed to equip advertisers with a concise yet powerful tool to conquer the challenges and seize the opportunities each month brings. Packed with insightful tips, strategies, and a handy checklist, this guide will ensure you're well-prepared to optimize your campaigns and be ready when the peak season hits. Get ready to elevate your retail game and make every month a triumph! 
Use the checklist to guide your actions and get ready each month. Find the PDF attached. Here some links to the below mentioned tips and tricks for the first wave in August & September: Holiday 2023 insights
Acceleration starts in October Total Retail growth is expected to be going back to normal. The past few years have seen pandemic gains and fluctuating growth rates between brick-and-mortar and ecommerce channels. The 2023 holiday season is likely to resume more typical growth patterns, having a preference for ecommerce over in-store. According to a Microsoft first party survey, apart from Apparel, more than half of respondents prefer to shop online across various surveyed categories. This is a growing trend YoY, with the highest increases on Toys & Games and Gift Cards, up 7 and 6 percentage points (pp), respectively. Although November and December are peak volume months, clicks begin to accelerate at the start of October, roughly 55 days prior to Black Friday, with conversions following 10 days behind. There is substantial volume in the upfront months, with 44% of clicks and 40% of conversions occurring September and October at a 5% lower CPC. Together, Audience Network ad and Search ad exposure drives maximum performance. Advertisers see outsized conversion lift across users who see both ad types in the Holiday timeframe. Users who saw both Audience Network & Search ads are 11,5x more likely to convers and 3.2x more likely to visits a site than uses who only saw a search ad. Audience Network ad exposure drives users to Search. Combining upper and lower funnel tactics are crucial! Tipp: active audience ads 45days prior to expected October uplift Pricing is also getting more important. Consumers are seeking deals more than ever. 74% conversions stem from items under $100. Highlight sales and offers in ad copy, leveraging evergreen messaging as well as countdown customers, merchant promotions, sitelinks, callouts, and price extensions. Drive awareness of promotions via eye-catching Multimedia and Audience Ads. Consider feature alternative payment methods in extensions and messaging. Audit your feed to ensure that you have no untargeted offers! Tipp: add price extensions The Holidays are about more than just Gifting. Travel and Home are mayor verticals next to gifting. Consider highlighting products tangentially related to Travel, e.g., luggage and bid up hosting categories like Home Décor, Lighting, and Recipes. And consider both channels and therefore adopt in-market audiences across your Search and Audience Network campaign. Tipp: Target relevant in-market audiences for maximum reach. Go further and pair In-Market Audiences with Remarketing Lists Source: Microsoft Internal. Demand: Retail & CPG, US Only. Search & Audience Network | 
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GERMANY Embrace the upcoming 2023 holiday season with tailored advertising strategies on the Search and Audience Network platforms for Germany. For in-depth guidance, refer to the two attached one-pagers, equipping you to thrive in the bustling holiday retail landscape for Seach and Audience. The preparation guides bring insights regarding top gift categories, search development, performance as well as some tips regarding keywords, targeting and bidding. Channel Partner Pulse Call
Last Friday Last week we got a rewind of the Pulse Call. Hosted by our talented colleagues Joe and Simon, they brought back a  Channel Partner Editions. Their insightful presentation provided us with valuable updates on recent developments and exciting projects within the Microsoft Advertising. For those who couldn't attend or would like to revisit the discussions, we have some great news – the recording of the Pulse Call is accessible here:
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DMEXCO
We will be thereWe're excited to announce our participation in DMEXCO, held in Cologne this September! As a leading event in the digital marketing and technology space, it's a fantastic opportunity to connect and share insights. We're thrilled to inform you that we'll have a dedicated meeting booth throughout the event. If you're also attending and would like to schedule a meeting, please let us know. We value your presence and look forward meeting you! I hope you enjoyed this month’s newsletter.Please reach out to us if you have any feedback, question or opportunities. Best regards, Your Microsoft Advertising Team |