How To Outburst With Your Retail Sales On This Holiday Season 2021?

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Retailers play an important role in promoting product consumption and manufacturing, serving as a ‘gatekeeper’ between manufacturers and consumers throughout the entire lifespan. They have the potential to play a significant role in increasing consumption and production.

Retailers have access to a wide selection of items for eCommerce holiday planning and retail solutions. They are in direct contact with an extensive network of suppliers, encouraging the development and manufacturing of new products. Retailers can affect what things are purchased and how they are disposed of through their contacts with consumers.

Latest 2021 eCommerce Holiday Shopping Statistics

This year’s holiday sales are likely to exceed $1 trillion. In 2021, suppliers would have to pay an extra $12 billion in manufacturing costs compared to 2020.

After December, half of the new loyalty signups from the Christmas season are at risk of losing. Last holiday season, online and other non-store sales increased by nearly 24% to $209 billion.

Compared to the prior holiday season, 82.5 percent of customers plan to shop online as much as or more during the holiday shopping season 2021.

What Are Shoppers Looking For This Holiday Season?

Unexpectedly, online buying has risen since more individuals work from home and spend more time at home. Nearly half of worldwide customers said they were doing more online shopping now than before the outbreak. Regarding Christmas shopping, 56 percent of consumers prefer to purchase on brand and retailer websites that provide home delivery, up from 45 percent in 2019.

According to the 2020 Influencer Holiday Report, the top reasons why people choose to purchase online are ‘to prevent crowds and stay safe’ and ‘convenience.’ In addition, over a third of those polled said that buying online gives them access to things that aren’t currently available in stores. In general, there are few ecommerce predictions, like contactless shopping techniques will become more common in the future.

Problems Facing By Retailers During Holiday Shopping Season

The Old Ways are No longer Enough

These different and sometimes contradictory requirements, regulated by various company areas, must weigh and represent the bottom line: consumer pricing. To maximize their KPIs, retailers, and brands must provide optimal pricing points for reliable resources at the right time.

Consumers’ transition to ecommerce was driven by the pandemic, which increased supply shortages. Pricing stability is lacking in the new normal, and intense competition has evolved. In such stressful moments, it must revise traditional pricing methods to guarantee that all dynamic aspects are considered and that prices accurately reflect the current pricing strategy. Even better, firms’ pricing strategies must be analyzed and modified regularly.

Retailers and brands must react fast and effectively, learn new practices, and rethink underlying assumptions while using the appropriate technologies. They’ll need to be able to change their strategies on the go, dynamically, and on a real-time basis.

Supply chain fulfillment

Many businesses lack the expertise, skills, and resources necessary to effectively handle the pace, volatility, and complexity of e-commerce fulfillment. The task of efficiently allowing e-commerce fulfillment capacity may appear daunting, but it is highly achievable with the right solution.

Return to purchase ratio

The other challenge will be reverse logistics. Since so many individuals will get products they dislike, retailers usually expect returns after the holidays. Furthermore, online retailers have always had a higher-than-average return on investment. The option to buy numerous sizes and colors of an item to try on at home is becoming increasingly popular among e-commerce customers. In this case, it’s pretty improbable to retain all products, and they may all return.

Shortages of in-demand products

The demand may be uncertain around the holidays, but one thing is sure: people are still more inclined for holiday season ecommerce spending at this time. Sellers unable to arrange their inventory are more likely to have stock-outs, resulting in a slew of unhappy potential customers. To minimize this problem, retailers should examine their sales data, paying particular attention to their consumers’ previous Festive purchase behavior. Identifying patterns and e-commerce trends can aid in forecasting demand and successfully managing inventories.

Labor requirements

Retailers must adapt to accommodate changing demand and adopt new delivery methods, which necessitate various labor requirements. BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store), roadside pickup, delivery services, and e-commerce shipping have processes and people requirements. Retailers must shift their focus from in-store sales and to the backroom, DC, and delivery services.

Promotion schedules and targeted marketing campaigns

Promotion schedules and targeted marketing campaigns have fallen short of their aim of moving unwanted past-season inventory, posing a dilemma for retailers. No one could guess the drop in retail sales in the first half of 2020, and many shops are struggling to persuade customers to acquire existing inventory to make room for new in-transit products. Promotions aimed at moving old inventory are combined with attempts to entice customers to start purchasing now to relieve supply chain stress in the run-up to the holidays.

Users see the offers online and can’t find them in the store

While promos and discounts may undoubtedly help consumers feel special, personalization is the actual key to delivering an exceptional experience. Customers’ chosen contact method – even a tailored email subject line – may be used to give personalized information and offers, anticipating their wants and requirements and directing them down the sales funnel to their next purchase. However, retailers may face situations such as people seeing deals online but being unable to locate them in the store. Verify that deals appear in the store.

What Is The Percentage Of Retail Sales During The Holiday Season?

According to one survey, retail sales in the United States grew 3% from October 11 to December 24 compared to a year ago. According to the survey, although overall retail sales increased by 3% this Christmas season (excluding automobile and gasoline), online sales increased by 49% over the previous year.

According to MasterCard retail shopping statistics, online shopping accounted for 19.7% of total retail sales this Christmas season, up 13.4% in 2019. It’s not unexpected, given that many customers felt safer remaining at home this holiday season due to the pandemic. Home furniture and furnishings grew by 16.2 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year. This category’s online sales increased by 31%. Home improvement sales increased by 14.1%.

During the holiday season, not all retail sales increased. When compared to the previous year, apparel sales fell 19.1 percent. This holiday shopping season, department retailers suffered a 10.2 percent drop in overall sales.

How To Solve The Problems Facing Retailers And Convert This Season Into A Golden Egg Opportunity?

Beat the situation where old ways are no longer enough

With the development of ecommerce shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers can no longer compete only on price and quality. Retailers must now provide a compelling reason for customers to visit their store. The idea of a nearby convenience shop may no longer be as appealing as it was a decade ago. The physical area and whole experience must distinguish brick and mortar businesses from online stores.

Additional facilities and services, leisure offers, retail ambiance, and so on are factors that impact customers’ decisions. As a result, the significance of destination shopping projects will grow in the future. To stay in trend, retailers can go with ecommerce website development services to create a high-quality website and develop an ecommerce app to promote their products.

Cloud-based supply chain management software

Supply chain management will be severely impacted, and retailers will need to rethink their strategy to satisfy customer demands. Until businesses return to normal, inventories and logistics must organize in a simplified way. Retailers must optimize their inventory across the network to ensure that they must be available at the appropriate nodes to serve customers. Integration of third-party billing apps with the PoS device is one option for accomplishing it. Now is the moment for retailers to make the most of technology and solutions to help them recover from the outbreak.

Spike in returns

Retailers must foresee the possibility of a rise in returns before the Christmas season and have a strategy for getting such returns “back into the available stock” so that other consumers may purchase the things. For merchants, this procedure becomes too expensive. Retailers frequently manage returns of digitally purchased items via third-party services. Unfortunately, it takes time for that item to return to stock and become accessible for the next buyer, and some products never do. Retailers may also explore converting some abandoned stores into “dark stores” that serve as local delivery hubs.

Reshaping the retail industry paradigm through AI

It’s past time for retail executives to adopt a machine-first approach, and rightfully so. To their dismay, some retailers worldwide have discovered that tackling business difficulties with traditional solutions has not helped them separate themselves or survive.

Furthermore, “born digital” startups and “now digital” companies that have realized the power of data and algorithms to alter their businesses pose a severe risk to retailers. Setting up a decision data model that allows AI, powerful optimization algorithms, as well as simulation solvers to identify, detect, and optimize the supply chain is no longer a differentiator; it’s now a must for retailers to continue in business.

Omnichannel Solutions

It implies that effective omnichannel eCommerce marketing techniques are essential. Consumers find out a lot over the holidays through various channels, including email, organic search, sponsored ads, social media campaigns, and so on. When it comes to 2021 mobile ecommerce holiday buying trends, sellers need a fully integrated omnichannel nurturing cycle that efficiently directs customers through the sales funnel.

As per retail industry analysis, those who do not have an integrated marketing plan that incorporates several marketing channels are doomed to fall behind their rivals. Businesses must be present in all areas where customers are most likely to purchase to assure a tremendously successful Holiday season in 2021.

Retailers Must Obtain Technical Solutions To Beat The Heavy Competition Market

Retailers have been seeking ideal automated solutions to ease their business operations. Many technologies have been developed for numerous sectors, with variable pricing and benefits. Still, they frequently choose inappropriate software because it is difficult to use or lacks the capabilities to tackle retail challenges.

You can choose the best ecommerce website development company, and propose that you choose a system designed exclusively for the retail business to automate all of your retail operations, from inventory and sales management to prospect and customer management. The application should be simple and integrated with other systems, such as barcode scanners and point-of-sale systems. Most essential, you must have a thorough understanding of your needs to manage your budget and effectively select suitable software.

Maulik Pandya
Maulik Pandya is a lifelong Analyst, Founder of Evince Development & Eatance. He has good knowledge in Coding, Business Analysis, Providing Enterprise Solutions, Project Management, Sales Consultation, Marketing, Operation Management, Talent acquisition, Mentorship and Leadership. Apart from his professional life, he is a good Husband, Father of two beautiful Daughters, a Generous Friend, Garba Lover, Zumba Enthusiast, a Blogger, and a Helping hand to everyone.

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