Good news for retailers! While personal income growth may be stubbornly flat, consumers are enthusiastic about the upcoming holiday shopping season, according to Deloitte’s 2015 annual holiday survey. Deloitte anticipates a 3.5 to 4 percent rise in consumer spending compared to last year. Connected consumers will continue to drive more holiday season spending than ever before. Savvy retailers will capitalize on consumers’ omnichannel shopping behaviors, as well as their desire to be good to themselves and their families this year. The survey revealed a number of important trends about shoppers this holiday season, including:
- Approximately 75 percent of surveyed consumers plan to spend the same or more money than they did in 2014.
- The Internet was the “favored” shopping venue of more survey participants than any other venue, beating out department stores, outlet stores, and big box electronics retailers.
- About 44 percent of customers surveyed don’t plan on sticking to a concrete plan and stand to be influenced by deals, offers, and recommendations.
And here are three of ideas, based on the survey data, that you can use to influence shoppers this season.
- Beef up your social media presence. Approximately 76 percent of shoppers are active on social media, and half of those users intend on using social media to get gift ideas, find discounts or deals, and get recommendations.
- Implement a program to facilitate customer discussion online and incentivize reviewing. About 75 percent of surveyed shoppers said that reviews and recommendations are influential in their shopping decisions, and your organization can help drive those conversations.
- Focus on the quality and volume of your email campaigns. About 37 percent of surveyed shoppers say promotions and emails are influential in their buying decisions—and more effective than favorable return policies (25 percent), and traditional marketing-centric ideas like store-based gimmicks (8 percent) and invite-only events (6 percent).
For 30 years, Deloitte has followed retail trends and their impact on holiday shopping. For more info, including retail tips to launch you into the New Year, read Deloitte Digital's full holiday retail summary here. Or for even more insight, read the comprehensive 2015 Holiday Retail Outlook report, with plenty of information on how to resonate with consumers with regard to their changing holiday shopping behaviors.