How to Keep Your Holiday Shopping Experience on Track

The 2024 holiday season is right here, spelling optimistic times for retailers. Deloitte’s Holiday Retail Survey projects an 8% growth in this year’s US holiday sales. As for Canada, sales increase is expected to hit a 32% rise, per JLL’s Holiday Shopping Survey Report. Clearly, the upcoming season marks a prime time loaded with retail sales opportunities in both regions. And like every year, this period isn’t just about increasing sales from holiday shopping. It also offers a chance to get new buyers and build trust and customer satisfaction beyond December. How do you make the most of the holiday season as a retailer? 

It all starts with being proactive and well-prepared to ensure closing maximum business. The counter outcome is losing sales from potential customers choosing to shop with competitors due to poor planning or operational mishaps.  

This blog explores strategies for ensuring the success of your retail business during this holiday shopping season. Before we get started, let’s examine customer mindsets and preferences this year.

What are consumer expectations for 2024 holiday shopping? 

According to research, shoppers this year are cautiously optimistic. While their holiday budgets are higher than in previous years, they feel the squeeze. 40% of buyers across all income groups display five or more signs of frugal behavior. This stems from perceived higher prices of gifts alongside the high cost of living and budget restraints.  

In line with this, anticipated behavioral changes among consumers include:  

• Cutting back on self-gifting from 48% in 2023 to 32% this year 

• 38% of shoppers spending more time looking for the best prices 

• 62% of buyers trading down to more affordable buying options  

• 80% planning to shop during Black Friday-Cyber Monday to get the best bang for their buck 

With these numbers, it’s clear that shoppers’ choice of retailers and festive shopping choices hinges on factors like promotions and discounts that align with their budgets, product availability during time-sensitive periods, and loyalty programs with high perceived value. The opportunity cost of failing to meet these expectations can be high.  

The question remains: Are you prepared to meet consumer expectations while navigating these circumstances? Let’s explore actionable strategies that can ensure your holiday season stays on track. 

Follow these strategies to keep your holiday season on track 

1. Offer value-driven deals  

According to the Deloitte survey, 76% of respondents believe consumers will value lower prices over brand loyalty and abandon existing retailers.  

To ensure you stand out to the budget-conscious, create value-packed promotions that resonate with shoppers’ budgets. Advertise them well on media that works with your customers. This is super important as it is expected that 1 in 3 consumers will prefer to shop only as and when promotions or discounts are offered.  

To demonstrate value, get creative and design offers that encourage spending. For example, you could bundle popular items and create value packs. Another idea is running targeted discounts during the main shopping days. You could also introduce bonus pricing for gift card redemption or offer last-minute deals, volume-based deals, and so on. In addition, continue cross-selling recommendations that add value to existing purchases. Whatever route you take to demonstrate value and increase sales, ensure stock availability when the shopper is ready to buy. 

2. Enhance your loyalty programs  

Who doesn’t love value for their hard-earned money? And honestly, your loyal customers deserve special treatment to make them stick. You must extend individualized treatment to your top spenders to encourage repeat visits and strengthen spending.  

For this, make it a point to identify loyal customers from your CRM data and design better loyalty programs reflecting higher value for them. For example, you could offer this group additional incentives to your value-driven offers, like free shipping, bonus points, or exclusive discounts. You could also design loyalty incentives tied to early shopping. Get creative! 

3. Get ahead with stocking strategies  

Focus on stocking the right products at the right time and location. You must be equipped to cater to all shoppers, even the last-minute buyers, whether they buy offline or online or opt for BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up in Store). 

For this, monitor which products and categories are trending in which locations and ensure you’re well-stocked on them. Track inventory levels regularly and ensure replenishment as and when needed. In addition, be equipped for catering to other non-product spending categories. For example, among Canadian buyers, 78% plan to purchase gift cards for those on their holiday list. To cater to this, ensure you have suitable systems to offer and redeem gift cards.  

Read More: How Precise Inventory Planning Boosts Customer Satisfaction and Drives Retail Success  

4. Optimize omnichannel operations 

Seamless integration between online and in-store customer experiences is another essential consideration to ensure retail success this holiday season. According to research, online platforms are the top choice for 71% of US-based consumers owing to better price options and convenience. On the other hand, 99% of Canadians plan to visit a shopping center during the holiday season, up from 95% last year. Irrespective of where your consumers prefer to shop, ensure you’re prepared for omnichannel consistency.  

For this, in addition to a great website and a well-staffed store, ensure aligned systems and up-to-date inventory information across every channel. This is key to ensuring that when customers are ready to buy online or in-store, the product is available for immediate purchase, and the purchasing experience uncompromised. 

Technology can simplify the implementation of these strategies  

While the strategies we’ve discussed are essential and can be game-changing to spell holiday season success, implementing them requires the right support system. This can come from robust technology like retail-focused ERP software. 

End-to-end retail management software such as Magstar’s all-in-one retail software can ensure you’re well prepared for the season’s demands. With built-in tools for demand forecasting, real-time inventory tracking, analytics-driven insights, smooth communication, omnichannel integration, and much more, the solution lends you all the agility you need.  

Ready to keep your season (and customers) on track? 

The 2024 holiday season is an excellent time for retailers ready to meet the moment, and customer prefers. Gear up, proactively understand consumer expectations, and implement the strategies we’ve discussed to ensure your operations run smoothly and customers are satisfied. 

Are you prepared to make this your most successful holiday season yet? Book a time to explore how Magstar’s retail technology can help.