Our Holiday Gift Guide Campaign also provides MPG USA customers with a curated shopping experience to make gifting this holiday easier, with convenient 1-click formats right in your email. Spanish supermarket chain Dias helped drive better shopping experiences by rewarding employees for providing excellent customer experiences, connecting NPS scores at the retail level with employee rewards.
Witcher believes that payoffs are made because shoppers want to buy from a retail experience, rather than picking something up on the street. More than half (54%) of people overall -- and 70% of Gen Z consumers -- plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping in-store this holiday season, while, perhaps surprisingly, 54% of boomers expect to do the majority of their holiday shopping online. In addition, 25% of consumers overall -- and 42% of younger Millennials -- said shared experiences like cooking classes, carol singing, and kids' play areas can draw them into shopping in-store at one retailer rather than at another. In addition, consumers plan to do more than half (54%) of their holiday shopping, on average, from the convenience of their own homes this year -- rather than in-person at the mall or another physical retail outlet (46%).
For the majority of holiday-related categories, between 60 and 70 percent of consumers report that they are completing purchases in an omnichannel manner. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of consumers say they are shopping for holiday gifts throughout the year, fueled by a surge in frequent discounts such as deals websites and Amazon Prime Day.
And while scenes of Black Friday chaos and crowded shopping malls might have faded this year, many consumers still craved the excitement of shopping around the holidays. Even if it is weeks before the holidays, most people are still going to rush to get into and out of stores.
Shoppers are likely to shop in-store, online, and through every channel and market while searching for the perfect gifts for everyone on their lists. Because holiday shoppers are likely to purchase gifts for multiple friends and family members, the price will likely be a major consideration for them. Especially for customers looking to take advantage of competitive prices during this holiday season, instead of waiting until one specific holiday date, they will seek out promotions and will be willing to purchase sooner if enticed by a suitable deal.
For retailers who are actually offering sales, Rakuten Rewards Retail and Shopping Expert Kristen Gall says that it is going to begin relatively early. Encouraging consumers to buy ahead of time will give retailers an idea of hot items that are expected to have their last orders placed earlier in the year, according to Wicker, while a store wide or category-wide discount would let retailers run promotions without running into stock shortages.
Because consumers will not hesitate to shop elsewhere if they cannot find the products they are looking for, fulfillment will be crucial. As demand for high-quality goods and authentic experiences becomes a primary goal during gift-giving seasons, shoppers will invest more time in finding that perfect present instead of sticking with a single retailer. The right strategy for the customer experience will be dependent on the product, store, and customer.
Ensuring you are using the customer experience as your guideline in building a digital presence will help to deliver the right shopping experience for your target. Following best practices for user experience will help to ensure users are able to find what they need when they need it and move along the customer's journey toward making a successful purchase, while not experiencing any friction points. Ensuring that your social media campaigns and marketing techniques are ready to go (prior to holidays such as Christmas) will help boost sales and spread awareness of why shoppers should come to your store.
To take advantage of the younger demographics of consumers looking to shop and spend this year, retailers can take advantage of social media early on and affect their consideration and purchases. For instance, users are spending more time searching online for product reviews and candid opinions of previous shoppers prior to making a purchase. Many consumers will research products, read reviews, and even pick and buy items online, going in-store only to pick up the purchases. There will be some that will go into the store looking for products, or who are actively looking for employee assistance.
When people actually go into stores, the experience will be much different: They will be going with much greater mission-focused intent, and with clear expectations about what they are going to find within. Not only will a customer reach an item quicker, a frictionless shopping experience will also be noticed. These concepts need to be tested and deployed only where they are most likely to be effective because customers are likely to now favor an effortless shopping experience.
Half of the respondents in a survey said a seamless shopping experience online, including easier checkout and purchase via mobile apps, had positively affected their holiday spending in the current year. In the 12-market Global Survey, 47% of consumers reported problems with their online shopping experiences in the 2016 holiday season, higher than in a comparable period a year earlier. Sixty percent of shoppers reported being frustrated by the holiday shopping experience online this year, up 4 percent year-over-year, according to new research by Pitney Bowes.
Nearly everyone shops online over the holidays, but fewer than half are satisfied with their experience -- a problem that is growing year over year, according to a new study. Our report, "The Holiday Shopping Experience," based on a survey of 1,000 American consumers and 500 customer support workers, found that customers' expectations are higher than ever -- and those increased pressures are leading more than half of the customer service representatives who are stressed out and under-resourced to consider leaving their jobs.
Witcher says that decoupling gift shopping from the experiential elements of the season really does provide customers with an opportunity to pick and choose between times they want to simply purchase products, and times when they want to experience a more complete holiday experience, but from the perspective of the season, it may prove to be more detrimental than beneficial.
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