Back in the early days of ecommerce, visitor conversion was a really hot topic, and while most ecommerce teams continue to keep an eye on conversion, it’s not been a hot topic for a while. The beleaguered online marketer has been working hard to keep his or her head above water dealing with the shift of advertising dollars online, the nuances of search optimization, and distracted by A/B content testing, behavioral targeting and a hundred other wizzy approaches.

But in harder economic times, we all turn back to basics. Over the holiday period, while bricks and mortar channels suffered from poor like-for-like sales and discount induced margin erosion, online channels for many businesses showed healthy growth rates.

Despite some upbeat reports, the retail sector is facing a tough Christmas. A new Christmas Retail Survey released today by America’s Research Group (ARG) and UBS suggests that sales are weaker this year than in 2008. Of those consumers not shopping, 95 percent said they will wait if necessary until December 24 to get more items on sale.

Early reports indicate that Black Friday retail sales volumes are up slightly over 2008 as expected, though discounting has been heavy. Deal focused consumers have been searching for offers, sales and promotions like never before.

 While you may be wondering about a potential resurgence of the H1N1 virus, ecommerce marketers this year are focusing on finding the ‘sneezer’ - the customer that spreads offers and promotions through social networks.

 A recent study (registration required) showed that buyers are spending more time researching online, but spending less money. No doubt, most of these consumers are searching for better deals, and in particular voucher codes.