Tis’ the season to send our current year packing with a swift kick and start the new year off on a high note. And brands that are doing precisely that this holiday season are arming their teams with the most accurate, real-time consumer research possible. Let’s see how that looks and ways your brand can still take advantage of opportunities that consumer research has to offer this holiday season.
The state of holiday gifting
The state of holiday gifting in 2021 is rife with unprecedented shifts in consumer and market behaviors that have yet to settle from the pandemic. This is partly because we’re still in the midst of some scary situations, but it’s primarily because consumers have permanently shifted their purchase behaviors in a whole host of ways.
As we examine more in-depth in our Consumer and Market Intelligence Report: Holiday Gifting 2021, retailers should fold easily identifiable consumer behaviors into their strategic planning this holiday shopping season – and move these same concepts forward into 2022.
For starters, the overwhelming sentiment around sustainability matters is fairly negative – and this concept weighs heavily on the minds of consumers this season. Consumers have increasingly held brands to a socially aware bar, which has certainly affected their purchase decisions. And with the timing of our global environmental summits coming at the height of the holiday buying season, there’s a general sense of anger around the topic.
This is definitely something that retailers should be following closely – but it’s far from the only top-of-mind concern. The key guidance for brands this season is to remain flexible and allow data to drive decision-making and pivots in positioning, as there will likely be many shifts in the coming weeks. Spending is on the rise in many segments, after all, but capturing any part of it will require understanding the intersection of consumer values and purchase behaviors as cost-conscious consumers make hesitant steps toward your products. Retailers must map out relevant and meaningful tactics to entice hesitant consumers.
And there are challenges that further complicate the season, including supply chain concerns, labor shortages and waning consumer loyalties from those whom brands thought they’d already won over. We’ll look at each a bit further here, as well as some top gifts we see consumers clamoring for online. And we’ll share some changes that retailers can make to capture a sizable piece of anticipated profits during this emotionally charged shopping season!
Supply chain challenges and labor shortages
Consumers expect unprecedented out-of-stock messages from retailers and have started their holiday shopping early to ensure timely delivery. But they know that even that may not be enough, with nearly 40% of small businesses in the US experiencing supply chain delays during the Coronavirus pandemic. Contrast this with eMarketer forecasting US retail sales during the holiday shopping season to surge 9% to $1.147 trillion, with e-commerce accounting for 18.4% of total retail sales, and you have a recipe for extreme disappointment.