30-second summary:
- Holiday sales are projected to smash records with a total $189 billion reaching a 2X growth.
- Black Friday sales are expected to reach $10 billion.
- Shopping with many online retailers is a limbo for consumers.
- 42% of consumers did not complete a transaction and 52% of consumers were quick to buy from your competitors.
- With many walk-in retailers being closed on Thanksgiving, there’s room for online sales to see an additional $11 billion online spend bonus.
- Unlock your opportunities, discover the milestone dates where holiday sales will skyrocket and the pressing concerns that you need to tackle.
Winter’s here, shopping’s near, but online experiences aren’t very dear. Even though holiday sales are projected to cross $189 billion, online retailers are far from home in the shopping experience department. This week we walk you through the predictions, milestone dates, customers’ shopping challenges, and the factors that can bridge that gap.
Christmas and holiday sales to grow 2X
Holiday sales are projected to smash records with a total $189 billion reaching a 2X growth, nearing a 33% YoY increase. To top it off, if walk-in stores are to remain closed on Thanksgiving, consumers are expected to spend an additional $11 billion online reaching $200 billion which is a 47% YoY increase. Pioneer innovator, Adobe recently analyzed trillions of data points to reveal holiday season shopping predictions, these were some key findings:
- 9% of all holiday buyers will be new online shoppers due to the pandemic
- Conversion rates are expected to increase significantly (13%)
- Black Friday sales are expected to reach $10 billion
- Black Friday will be the best day to get discounts on appliances (discounted by 11% on average) and TVs (19%)
- Smartphone account for 42% of all online sales as Americans will spend $28.1 billion more on their smartphones vs. 2019 (55% increase YoY)
- Small retailers will see a 107% boost of $10M-$50M annual online revenue
- Large retailers are expecting an 84% boost
- Affordable and free shipping options will be in high demand
- 51% of consumers plan to support small and local retailers on Small Business Saturday; 38% plan to shop at smaller retailers throughout the season.
Milestone dates for holiday sales
- Nov 1- Nov 21: Online sales will surpass $2 billion every day
- Nov 22 – Dec 3: Online sales to rise to $3 billion a day
- Nov 27 (Black Friday): Projected to generate $10 billion in online sales (39% YoY increase)
- Nov 30 (Cyber Monday): Will remain the biggest online shopping day of the year with $12.7 billion (35% jump YoY)
Cart abandonment issues and Consumer ecommerce shopping challenges
Customer engagement software, GoMoxie surveyed adult US consumers and these were some key findings:
- 40% of consumers struggle to transact with an online retailer
- 42% of consumers did not complete a transaction
- 60% of consumers abandoned the shopping experience when they encountered any problem
- 52% of consumers that faced problems with site ‘A’ were quick to resort to site ‘B’ (competitors) for shopping
- Consumers aren’t going to waste time contacting customer service
What are your customers’ online shopping struggles?
Customers are stuck in an online shopping limbo with many online retailers. Customers that encountered these problems completely abandoned their shopping carts rather than spending time to reach out for customer assistance.
- 43% faced insufficient information
- 43% had difficulty navigating the online retail site/platform
- 36% encountered error messages
- 22% ran into login issues
Surprisingly, the struggle is almost equal for baby boomers, Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z proving that the age factor doesn’t affect these challenges or salvage a bad online shopping experience.
How online retailers can bridge the customer experience gap
The GoMoxie report found some essential action points that will help online retailers successfully bridge the experience gap this holiday season:
- Interact with customers through email and live chat as these are going to be very important to win customers and retain them
- Share accurate information about products and other information such as delivery, returns, and more
- Clear communication, focus on channels your customers prefer
- Understand what customers expect from retailers while purchasing online
These charts will help you get more context about points 3 and 4 mentioned above:
ClickZ readers’ choice for the week
Conversions and winning customers’ mind share have been top priorities for our readers this past week, followed by digital asset management (DAM) system challenges and how to overcome them.