SmallBusinessNewz

It's June, so it must be time to start preparing for the holidays right? Seriously, it's never to early to start thinking about it when you're in retail. That's precisely why Google has run down some takeaways from the 2009 holiday season on its Retail Advertising Blog.

Google reminds us that last year, 44% of shoppers had already started their holiday shopping and researching in August. That's not so far away. Some other stats the company points out:

- Searches for 'promo codes' increased by as much as 55% year-over-year.

- Black Friday searches rose 20% year-over-year as consumers flock online during the traditionally offline shopping event.

- 2 of the top 3 days for online purchases were Mondays.

- In a joint test with Levi's, Google found that paid search ads, whether or not clicked, raised consumer awareness substantially.

- Half of all new internet connections will come from mobile phones.

- Searches for "buy online, pick up in store" were up by as much as 100% this past December.

Eric Lopez of the Google Retail Team runs these and others down in this post. The point is, we generally tend to start talking about getting ready for the holidays, as the holidays get closer, but the further in advance you are prepared, the better…well, prepared, you are likely to be.

At least start thinking about your plans.