E-commerce strategies like in-store pickup and special holiday messaging can boost small business' sales this season, according to Adobe's analysis of over a trillion retail site visits

• Online customers spent a whopping $7.4 billion on Black Friday, and $3.6 billion on Small Business Saturday, according to e-commerce analytics from Adobe.
• The majority of increased sales went to large sellers, but small sellers more than doubled their revenues on Saturday compared with their daily average.
• Large and small retailers who target their messaging, set sale deadlines, and enable online purchases to be picked up in store are seeing the greatest increases this year.
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Holiday shoppers are expected to spend nearly $144 billion online this year, according to e-commerce analytics from Adobe, with $11 billion of those sales occurring on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

Adobe is monitoring this season's online shopping in real time, and its retail forecasts are based on 2018 sales data from more than 1 trillion visits to retail sites. The company says its analysis is the largest of any tech firm, covering 80 of the top 100 top online retailers.

According to the data, large retailers are outperforming smaller ones, but the remaining holiday shopping season leaves ample room for small businesses to adjust their e-commerce strategy and increase their share of this year's record-setting sales.

Here are three priorities small retailers can act on now, based on the numbers.

Refine and target your messaging

Direct traffic, emails, and social networks are significant traffic drivers for small e-commerce sites. Small sellers can use better messaging across those traffic channels to improve their conversion of traffic into sales.

According to the data, large retailers do a better job of presenting holiday-specific messaging to their customers, which helps them convert at a rate of 32% compared with 23% for small sellers.

Consumers surveyed by Adobe said they shop at smaller retailers to find high quality products, unique selection, and a special experience. Updating your home page, emails, and social posts to highlight these features could help boost sales for small retailers.

Offer in-store pickup

Online shoppers are increasingly opting to pick their products up in store, which presents another significant opportunity for small retailers.

Over 46% more sales were bought online and picked up in person this year over last year, and those numbers are forecast to continue rising as Christmas approaches. Adobe expects in-store pickup revenues to double in the week before Christmas.

Small retailers may need to adjust their hours, staffing, and stockroom plans to accommodate these customers, but the trend suggests that demand is growing. Plus, more than 80% of consumers surveyed said they will shop for additional items when picking up their online orders from a store.

Use deadlines and incentives wisely

One remarkable finding in the Adobe analysis is the hourly breakdown of earnings on big days like Cyber Monday. The highest earning hours are between 7 and 11 p.m. PT, which the report interprets as buyers racing to catch a fleeting deal before it expires.

Small businesses can use the lessons of Cyber Monday by offering specific discounts with clear deadlines. Loyalty programs and other time-sensitive perks like free or expedited shipping could also help boost sales during this period.

And for brick-and-mortar sellers, combining smart deals with a robust messaging strategy and in-person pick-up incentives, could turn online traffic into foot-traffic.

While half of the projected holiday spending is already done, there's still plenty of time this season to step up small business sales and finish the year on a strong note.

You can read the full report here.