by Fronetics | Nov 27, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
With the 2018 holidays approaching fast, customers are pulling out their wallets and getting ready to increase holiday spending by at least 4.3%.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is estimating that holiday sales will be up 4.3-4.8% over 2017, for a total of $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion. “Thanks to a healthy economy and strong consumer confidence, we believe that this holiday season will continue to reflect the growth we’ve seen over the past year,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
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Shopping insights
Consumers are planning to spend an average total of $1,007 for decorations, candy, and gifts ($853 on average), as well as other purchases for themselves and their families ($154 on average). This is an increase from 2017, continuing the trend of growth over the past 5 years.
Not only are they spending more, but consumers are starting early this year—as many as 40% will have started their holiday shopping by November 1, and 18% got started in September or earlier.With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, consumers have been using deals and promotions to start getting items on their holiday lists. 164.6 million shopped or considered shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Increasingly, shoppers are turning online, many on mobile devices. 71% are planning to use a smartphone or tablet to research or make a purchase. In fact, 55% of consumers are planning to shop online. Of those, 94% plan to take advantage of free shipping, 50% plan to buy online and pick up in store, and 16% plan to splurge on expedited shipping.
Priorities
Holiday shoppers rank sales and price discounts (71%), quality (60%), selection of merchandise (60%), and free shipping (47%) as the top factors in deciding where to shop this year.
“Consumers will be scouring through retailers’ ads to make sure they are getting the best deal possible,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Although sales will remain an important factor, shoppers want good quality and want to be able to find what they’re looking for.”
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by Fronetics | Nov 27, 2017 | Blog, Current Events, Marketing
It’s time for retailers to cut their dependence on holiday season shopping, and take advantage of opportunities to generate demand over a more sustained period of time.
When was the last time you stood in a pre-dawn line at a Black Friday doorbuster sale? If it was within the past years, you’re actually part of a dwindling minority of shoppers. Increasingly, customers are in shopping mode all the time, and deals that are restricted to a limited timeframe or buying mode are only a source of frustration.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, brand-building expert Denise Lee Yohn makes the argument that retailers are over-dependent on the holiday shopping season, as the retail landscape has shifted seismically in the past decade. “It no longer makes sense to rely on disproportionate revenue from the holiday season to make up for the softness in sales during the rest of the year,” she argues.
Accommodate the way people shop today
So what does this mean for marketers? Yohn suggests that it’s time for brands to rethink how they promote themselves during the holidays and beyond, with marketing dollars better spent accommodating the ways people shop now.
“Customers don’t want retailers to dictate their shopping schedule,” says Yohn. Shoppers at every price point are becoming more accustomed to buying whenever the interest strikes them. They often shop from their mobile devices or in the stores during post-season sales, rather than at times traditionally associated with peak retail activity.
In their book Absolute Value, Itamar Simonsen and Emanuel Rosen posit the idea that people are now engaging in what they call “couch tracking,” or “keeping track of what they learn about products from reviews, friends, and news items on an ongoing basis.” This means that customers are likely to have well-formed preferences long before they have a specific plan to purchase. “Therefore,” concludes Yohn, “it doesn’t make sense for retailers to try to influence product or brand decisions only during discrete windows of time.”
In case you need further convincing, Yohn also points out that a disproportionate emphasis on the holiday season isn’t to a retailer’s best advantage even from a logistic perspective. “The large fluctuations in demand wreak havoc on supply chain, labor management, and accounting.”
It’s time for retailers to cut their dependence on holiday season shopping, and take advantage of opportunities to generate demand over a more sustained period of time. Millennials and other shoppers are increasingly choosing to spend discretionary dollars on experiences like recreation, travel, and eating out, rather than on products like clothing and shoes. To keep pace, Yohn suggests that “a year-round approach would likely help retailers compete with restaurants and other experiences which people seek out throughout the year.”
How to better distribute your marketing dollars
Here are three key takeaways for retailers looking to put marketing dollars to better use:
1) Encourage year-round “self-gifting”
Millennials are nearly as likely to buy something for themselves as someone else during the holiday season. Encouraging this tendency year-round could lead to more consistent purchasing rather than waiting for a holiday occasion.
2) Delay holiday-specific messaging
This one may seem counter-intuitive, but not having a holiday-specific message during fall months will actually help you capture wider demand. You also buck the trend of creating deal-fatigue, as shoppers quickly get weary of holiday promotions that start in October.
3) Make technology your friend
Says Yohn, “The technology and analytics now exist for retailers to better predict what people want and when they want it, so they should use these capabilities to move away from the traditional seasonal approach.”
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by Fronetics | Nov 16, 2017 | Blog, Current Events, Supply Chain
With the 2017 holidays right around the corner, consumers are digging into their pockets and getting ready to increase sales, especially online.
The National Retail Federation is estimating that holiday sales will be up 3.6-4% from last year, totaling $678.5 billion in holiday spending. What’s more, consumers will be hitting the malls earlier than ever. More and more retailors are forgoing the traditional Thanksgiving dinner to open their stores during the holiday. Major retailers, including Target, Kohls, and Toys “R” Us, will open their doors at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
“[Thanksgiving] was a strong weekend for retailers, but an even better weekend for consumers, who took advantage of some really incredible deals. In fact, over one third of shoppers said 100% of their purchases were on sale,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in 2016.
The NRF is estimating that the average consumer will spend $967.13 during the holiday season, almost $300 of which will be spent during Thanksgiving weekend.
Holiday spending can be broken up into three major categories:
- Gifts
- Items such as food, decorations, flowers and greeting cards
- Other non-gift items consumers buy for themselves and their families
For the first time in NRF’s survey history, online shopping has become the most popular shopping destination. In fact, 59% of consumers will head to their computers for holiday spending, where most will benefit from free shipping (94%).
“While many consumers are holding off until November or later to start their holiday shopping, retailers should be prepared for high traffic online and in stores come Thanksgiving weekend,” Prosper Insights Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow says. “Although sales will remain an important factor for most consumers, many will lean on convenient locations and easy-to-use websites or mobile apps along with free shipping to complete their purchases.”
2017 holidays supply chain infographic
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From all of us at Fronetics, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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