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Here's how retailers can make the most of the holidays
BI Intelligence
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In a survey of 8,000 consumers by Trustpilot, 62% of respondents listed price as the most important consideration for their holiday shopping this year, with other top factors including customers service, shipping, and product availability.
This indicates retailers will need to have plenty of promotions on tap to fully reap the benefits of this high-volume time, as price-conscious consumers are likely to be wading through a large pool of seasonal deals. A second survey by CPC Strategy sheds some light on how consumers are factoring in price when deciding where to shop this season:
Nearly half of consumers said total price at checkout, including shipping fees, will be the most important factor when choosing retailer this holiday season.
Customers also plan to price check while shopping in-store, with 32% saying they will research on Amazon and 23% turning to Google.
Price-sensitivity could push sales to new heights during Cyber Week 2017, the annual online shopping extravaganza spanning from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday. This five-day stretch is expected to boast the steepest discounts of the entire holiday season, as well as free shipping offers, according to Salesforce. Given that price appears to be such a huge priority for consumers this year, online spending will likely balloon over this period — BI Intelligence estimates Cyber Week sales to top $10 billion in 2017, up from about $9 billion last year. To capture this activity, retailers should be prepared to compete aggressively on price, as well as provide superior customer service and fast delivery to help differentiate from competitors.
There may also be a rise in voice shopping this holiday season, as millennials turn to voice assistants for product research. Approximately 40% of millennials will use voice assistants, such as Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant, for their product research this holiday season. That may indicate an openness to voice shopping during this busy time, with pressed shoppers looking to seamlessly research and purchase products via voice as they try to multitask. Retailers are already leveraging voice shopping ahead of the holidays — for example, Target is offering a discount for consumers who link their REDcards to Google Express, and Walmart has a similar deal — which may help them bolster sales from millennials.
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