Trends & Projections For Holiday Shopping In 2022

Big sales, big masses, and bedazzling products altogether make the holiday season feast to our eyes. However, the joy of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year aren’t just confined to retailers but also extends to shoppers who relish the dazzles of festive items offered on sale.

Unlike other bygone years, 2020 seems to have everything different in its store for both shoppers and sellers. The spill-over of COVID-19 has revamped the way folks used to celebrate and shop during the winter holidays.

But, look at the bright side, most consumer surveys have noted a significant increase in customer spending during these holiday times. A survey from JLL notes that customers spent 25% more in 2021 than in 2020.

This increase in spending is because many eCommerce stores in the United States offer massive discounts to satisfy the shoppers.

Even though the enthusiasm among people to shop for holidays did not fade away, modifications in consumer preferences are still practicable. Thus, to help eCommerce merchants experience the most from the holiday season, here, we will take a deeper dive into a change in shoppers’ behavior.

Mobile and Social Commerce Are In Preference

With many people stuck at home, they’ve increased shopping through mobile phones. According to an Adobe survey, eCommerce spending clocked in at $5.1 billion this year!

Besides, over 44% of people are reluctant to shop in person during the winter season as getting infected is high, resulting in an extreme preference for online stores.

This stat shows a key advantage for eCommerce stores to expand their sales to the horizon by ensuring prolific digital strategies and capabilities.

• Shopping Will Kick-Off Early

Generally, Black Friday, the Friday immediately after Thanksgiving, is when retailers start beating the drum for holiday sales.

However, today, shoppers passively engage with your brand more than ever before making their purchases. This fact shows that your consumer behavior is changing (you need to nurture these leads way earlier than the holiday season). In addition, your marketing strategies need to change for better targeting and brand engagement.

The major reasons behind the event of early shopping are smaller budgets, delayed Amazon Prime Day, and the concerns about supply chain disruptions in the mind of customers.

• Shoppers Are Eyeing On Best Discounts And Deals

While eCommerce brands initially were fearful of the pandemic slowing down sales, they soon realized it was a blessing in disguise. The pandemic failed to lessen people’s enthusiasm for celebrating the holiday season in full swing.

Buyers were suddenly flocking to coupon sites and hunting for online stores that served the best discounts. For example, take a look at the graphs below:

Most popular coupon websites in the United States in June 2020, based on average monthly visits(in millions)

 

Most popular mobile shopping apps in the United States as of September 2019, by reach

Amazon remained the most popular mobile shopping app in 2019, with all the announcements on monumental discounts on items like electronics, fashion, fitness, home decor, and other technical appliances.

With eCommerce brands continuing to find success with discounts and offers, this trend will continue to grow even into the holiday season for 2022.

• Unique and Non-Traditional Gifts Are In Wishlist

While concerts have seen a halt in the previous pandemic-ridden years, 2021 has slowly opened them up, and the trend is likely to progress onwards to normalcy.

While normalcy is a dream the world wishes to progress towards, the gift-giving spirit of the population today has pivoted towards “personalized gifts.” Recent stats show that 85% of people seek out personalization options for gift-giving.

Etsy’s 2020 marketplace insights report shows that people want to gift their families more meaningful gifts during the holidays. The kind of gifts that take away the sour taste that the pandemic has left in their mouths.

• WFH Related Purchases Elevates

The shoot-up in remote working has entirely altered the needs and wants of shoppers. Where earlier one used to shop for fashionable products for stylish social life, the new quarantine lifestyle urges them to buy the items that support their WFH schedule.

These include accessories like laptop stands, multi-purpose laptop tables, etc. In addition, the sale of technical gadgets, that is, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, also witnessed a sudden hike this year.

• Not All Shoppers Will Spend Same As In Previous Years

Even though it is transparent from most of the studies that there will not be any drastic change in the consumer’s spending, the matter of the financial crisis will still have its impact on holiday season profits. Moreover, according to CNBC, online revenue for “buy now, pay later” options are gaining momentum.

How Can E-commerce Retailers Brace-Up For Profitable Holiday Season?

 

Indeed, Holiday season 2020 is a new ball game for sellers and buyers. But since consumers are still eager to celebrate winter feast days, retailers can turn this into an opportunity by being strategic and unique among the crowd. Here’s how businesses can reap maximum benefits at the end of the year.

• Interpreting Consumer Changed Needs and Preferences

The long stay at home and avoidance of socialization resulted in transforming customers’ behavior. By evaluating their current needs and preferences, online stores can prepare strategies that fetch all eyes within no time. This holiday season, it is suggested to store unique, non-conventional, and supporting home accessories to hit the jackpot.

• Making Social Media Marketing More Splendid

As it is a logical proposition that mobile and social commerce are on people’s priority lists when it comes to shopping, improvising the strategies in link to social media will be helpful. Besides, one can reach the maximum audience by executing the appropriate and professional messaging strategy.

• Making Bespoke Service As Focus Of Attraction

Another consideration that can help have the best of the holiday season is providing bespoke products and services. Most shopping enthusiasts like to opt for a store that offers a customized experience from start to end. In addition, focusing on personalization can also let a business gain a competitive edge and the benefit of having loyal customers.

• Ensuring Better Customer Experience On Your Site

Better the customer experience, the better will be the brand image. It is dire to execute every aspect of your digital business strategically so that buyers can have the best site experience to boost your name in the global market. Besides concentrating on the quality of products, retailers also need to ensure timely shipping and prevent supply chain disruption, which is the biggest nightmare among shoppers these days.

Key Takeaways

Holiday season 2021 is undoubtedly a mix of enthusiasm and concern for the shoppers. Though they are excited to celebrate feast days with amazing souvenirs, the matter of the financial crisis lets them scratch their heads before they even shop.

The change in consumers’ method of spending is the significant reason that makes eCommerce stores unsure about the expanse of profit they will enjoy this year.

But no matter what, it forms the ultimate responsibility of retailers to offer everything finest to the potential customers. After all, precise and exclusive marketing strategies can help businesses rise to the occasion.