Despite the evidence of inflation all around us, consumers seem unfazed when it comes to their shopping habits. According to National Retail Federation President and CEO, “October retail sales data confirms that consumers continue to stretch their dollars on household priorities, including gifts for family and loved ones this holiday season.” In other words, consumers are still spending and they’re spending early on holiday gifts. The question is, what can you do to win your share of today’s holiday shoppers? We have some tips.
- Appeal to the Hybrid Shopper
The intermixing of digital and physical shopping is becoming more dominant with more than half of consumers reporting they shop both ways. Clients of Aptos commerce solutions saw a 75% increase in e-commerce sales fulfilled from their physical stores during the 2021 holiday season. That means more of your customers will expect that they can purchase online and pick up the item in-store. Conversely, if it’s not on the shelf, they will expect to easily purchase a product through your online store. If not, they’ll jump to Amazon or Wallmart.com faster that you can say, “We’ll give you a rain check.”
- Enable in-app payments
The convenience of buying online and picking up curbside or in-store is important to the hybrid shopper. Avoiding the line at checkout is especially appealing during retail madness that is the holidays.
- Make returns simple for all types of shoppers
If you’re known for making returns easy for both e-commerce and in-store shoppers, you’ll earn loyalty. Amazon has built an empire on how simple they enable returns through the mail and through physical drop-off locations. Preparedness for a flood of post-holiday returns is critical.
- Offer physical gift cards in addition to digital
According to Payments Dive, although digital gift cards rose in popularity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, 54% of consumers prefer physical gift cards.
- Catch the late December shopping spike
While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important kick-offs to holiday shopping, research shows that consumer response to digital ads spikes again just before the shipping cut-off for Christmas delivery. This chart from Search Engine Land paints the picture.
In conclusion, if you’re in step with what consumers want from a shopping experience, expect a bright holiday season. Consumers are spending generously online and in-store and that’s good for you and our economy.
