Holiday trends point to being prepared – are you ready?

Posted on November 21, 2022 in Company Internet Marketing, internet marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing Services, SEO, SEO Services, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing Services, Video Marketing, Video Optimization, Video Search Engine Optimization, Video SEO, VSEO, web video marketing, Web Video Production

This holiday shopping season may prove to be one of the most volatile in a long time. As the economy continues to be rather unpredictable, it means that businesses need to be prepared and ready for just about anything. This season it appears as if intel may be more important than ever. In some recently published research by Squareup, it seems to drive home where you might want to put your energies to insure a profitable holiday season. The following is taken directly from that published report:

  • Consumers are feeling the effects of inflation leading into the holiday season. To account for rising costs, some reported that they’ll be cutting back on general purchases, adjusting their budgets, and canceling subscriptions or activities to save money.
  • But inflation won’t stop many consumers from shopping this holiday season. Despite rising costs, most consumers still plan to spend: 42% of consumers plan to spend the same amount as last year; 25% expect to spend slightly more than last year; and 11% plan to spend significantly more.  Gifts aren’t the only thing shoppers will be spending on. Consumers said that food and drinks (53%), Thanksgiving-related spending (45%), socializing (36%), and decorations (26%) are priorities for their holiday spending.
  • Like consumers, retailers are feeling the effects of inflation this season. Seventy-four percent of retailers said that inflation has impacted their holiday preparations and their holiday approach, and half said that they plan to increase their prices before the shopping season. While outlook for the season is mixed, with 32% expecting business conditions to worsen and 41% believing conditions will improve, Square found that, overall, retailers expect sales to increase slightly this holiday season — a prediction in line with consumer spending plans.
  • With inflation top of mind, many shoppers will be searching for more value this year. Forty-four percent of consumers said that sales prompt them to purchase, and another 17% said that they’ll be looking specifically for more affordable gifts this year. Whether that means offering a buy-one, get-one promotion or holiday coupon codes across online and social platforms, shoppers will be looking for retailers that offer some additional value.
  • Shoppers are also leveraging new ways to help budget their holiday spending. One in eight holiday shoppers said that they’d sign up for a buy-now, pay-later service to help them budget their holiday spending, and one in six shoppers already plan to use a buy-now, pay-later service such as Afterpay to budget their finances and to help with immediacy of purchasing.

  • Shoppers say that they’ll be getting their gift ideas from family and friends, from being in-store, and from websites, forums, or blogs. Whether you’re prepping your holiday window display, planning a holiday pop-up event, or getting your eCommerce store ready for the holiday season, be sure to curate a holiday-inspired theme and point shoppers toward gift ideas.
  • Loyalty programs and insider perks can also help encourage repeat shoppers and customer recommendations this season. Square found that customers enrolled in a loyalty program were twice as likely to be repeat customers and spent an average of 37% more than non-loyalty shoppers.
  • Social media platforms and online stores will be another driver for gift inspiration and purchasing this holiday season. Around one in four shoppers spot their gift ideas on Facebook (27%) and Instagram (24%), so having a social commerce strategy in place this holiday season can help expand awareness and sales.
  • Most retailers plan to enlist a number of online sales channels this holiday season, including social media (59%), an online store (45%), marketing campaigns (38%), and text messaging (16%) with conversational commerce.  Just over a quarter of businesses (26%) don’t plan to use any online channels to sell this holiday season.
  • Social media platforms and online stores will be another driver for gift inspiration and purchasing this holiday season. Around one in four shoppers spot their gift ideas on Facebook (27%) and Instagram (24%), so having a social commerce strategy in place this holiday season can help expand awareness and sales.Most retailers plan to enlist a number of online sales channels this holiday season, including social media (59%), an online store (45%), marketing campaigns (38%), and text messaging (16%) with conversational commerce. Just over a quarter of businesses (26%) don’t plan to use any online channels to sell this holiday season.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer