Why Analyzing Customer Trends is Key for Boosting Profits
And just like that, we have approached the busiest season for retailers. The period between October and December (also known as the Golden Quarter) is filled with different events and campaigns relating to Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, etc.
With the changes in consumer behavior impacted by the pandemic and omnichannel revolution, many are curious how this year’s Golden Quarter will compare to previous years. Will consumers change their holiday shopping behaviors? How will this impact retailers and their promotion planning?
Studies show that though shoppers will continue to engage in holiday shopping, they will plan to shop much earlier, and will be on high alert for sales and promotions:
Meanwhile, US Holiday retail sales are projected to see an increase compared to last year:
With this data in mind, retailers can optimize their promotions to align with consumers’ behavioral trends.
Over the last three years, the pandemic caused major shifts in consumer behavior. Though shoppers are feeling more confident in 2022 to return to in-person shopping, the rise in inflation has influenced shoppers to start holiday shopping earlier than ever before.
Shoppers are confessing that they are adopting an early shopping attitude for multiple reasons:
Another concern that retailers are facing is knowing whether consumers will primarily shop online or in-store. Will they want to participate in the full holiday shopping experience after years of social distancing or will the comfort of e-commerce take over the US market from now on as a COVID-19 after effect?
Determining the right answer will be a challenging task for retailers, as consumers continue sending mixed signals about their plans for this holiday season shopping:
According to JLL’s Retail Holiday Survey 2022:
An omnichannel strategy is an innovative method that helps you create a unified experience for customers across all the channels through which an order gets placed.
Omnichannel retail enhances the shopping experience by synchronizing inventory between an online store and a physical store, allowing consumers to explore their potential alternatives on a real-time basis.
Accordingly, brands will have to personalize their inventory management in response to consumer demand. An Omnichannel fulfillment strategy will ensure customers get a seamless experience regardless of the channel choice from which their order is fulfilled.
With most predictions implying a proactive consumer approach for the 2022 holiday season, retailers have to be as ready as possible for all kinds of shopping scenarios.
Data-driven insights will be the key to retailers’ success in the face of uncertainty, as predicting consumer’s behavior this year is challenging to perform with traditional methods. Additionally, ICSC indicates in a recent press release that price and promotions will lead this Golden Quarter’s shopping decisions. From this perspective, optimizing promotions will be the retailers’ smartest way of reaching their goals for the holidays.
In order to optimize promotions, retailers need to tap into advanced technology.
AI and machine learning are capable of:
With the aid of AI and ML, retailers can leverage powerful information in preparation for the golden quarter and beyond that was previously unattainable with traditional methods.
Forward-thinking retailers are rapidly pushing the boundaries of what’s been traditionally done and instead embracing technology to achieve both customer satisfaction and overall ROI.
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