With Halloween now out of the way retailers are full steam ahead for the manic Christmas period. The fight is certainly underway to attract more custom than in 2013 and with the economy on the rise you would expect consumers to be ready to splurge this Christmas. However there is some evidence to suggest customers will be maintaining a tight hold on their purse strings this festive period.
57% of online shoppers plan to spend more than last year with 26% of online consumers planning to spend the same. There is however 33% who plan to spend less than previous years; and while inflation is still low, wages are still lagging behind and this constraint on the household income could be a factor in the percentage of people planning to spend less this Christmas.
Online shopping is going to be a massive contributor in the results of retail Christmas spends this year and becoming more prevalent during the busy Christmas period will be a connected and seamless omnichannel offering.
With the development and growth in technology, especially smartphones and tablets, it is likely to attract a high volume of shopping traffic. On average over the past 3 years online shopping has increased in December by 19%, and click-and-collect is set to increase by 40% found Conlumino.
Research has also found that 52% of consumers plan on doing most of their Christmas shopping before December, meaning it will be a busy end to November 2014. Of the early shoppers 58% are female compared to 46% of men.
With the abnormally warmer weather for the season it has meant that the Christmas shopping period has got off to a slower than normal start and could result in a turbulent trading period. The unusual weather has also had an impact on the autumn trading period, so could this have a knock on effect on the success of Christmas trading?
Unless we experience an imminent cooler spell forcing shoppers to start purchasing a winter wardrobe, retailers may have to consider pre-Christmas price reductions. This could however drive in shoppers who are searching for the perfect Christmas bargain but would impact retailer spend margins.
This Christmas period will not go by without its up’s and down’s and it’s sure to be a nail biting finish. In our view retailers will fare the storm and this nursery rhyme seems to nicely sum up the current retail situation;
“Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.”
For more information about our services and solutions or how our Merret supply chain solution could help you provide a seamless shopping experience across all available channels whilst utilising a single stock pool, then please visit our website at: www.retail-assist.co.uk or for more information why not email us: info@retail-assist.co.uk or call us: 0115 853 3910. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram…
The post What can you expect from Shoppers this Christmas? appeared first on Retail Assist.