NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwire) — 09/18/12 — In-store competitive browsing, heavy online shopping and downloaded gifts top the new shopper behaviors expected this holiday season, according to Booz & Company in its Holiday Retail Outlook 2012. Booz & Company found that while holiday retail sales will remain flat or only slightly up from last year, emerging consumer buying trends will have significant implications for retailers. Overall, consumers will remain cautious with spending, and they expect to find many deals.
Booz & Company conducted a 1,600-person informal survey of consumers, retail store staff and retail executives to determine buying habits and potential trends for this holiday season. The firm also conducted more than 150 interviews in stores, malls and airports during August-September 2012.
Nicholas Hodson, partner in Booz & Company-s Consumer & Retail practice, said, “Retailers will need to adjust their holiday sales strategies to embrace an evolving consumer mind-set, favoring a more seamless shopping experience through smartphones and in-store opportunities.”
Here is the breakdown of the consumer mind-set and purchase focus for the holiday:
In terms of consumer buying behaviors, multichannel shopping will be a core part of how consumers shop. Expect most customers to be simultaneously browsing in-store and on their smartphone. Forty percent of surveyed consumers describe “showcasing” as their new shopping strategy: browsing in-store before buying online, which creates a major challenge for bricks-and-mortar retailers.
“The biggest challenge this season for bricks-and-mortar retailers is determining how to drive more than their fair share of -showcasing volume- to their websites rather than Amazon.com or another competitor,” said Thom Blischok, chief retail strategist for Booz & Company.
“While technology enhancements and economic uncertainty will both impact this holiday season, there is a dose of optimism compared to 2011, as people shop with a value-seeking mind-set,” said Blischok.
Winning strategies for retailers this holiday season will include:
Developing seamless digital and physical experiences; for example, using QR code-driven promotions to convert a sale, considering free shipping on targeted items, using loyalty points to drive conversion or using online competitor price matching sparingly to drive price perception
Preparing online and mobile technology platforms for high volumes, because crashing apps will discourage consumers
Ensuring that sales associates are intimately familiar with both the website and any mobile offerings so they can help customers navigate among different buying channels in real time
Offering free shipping on targeted items or basket sizes. Shoppers are increasingly savvy about their all-in costs; last year free shipping was a major online sales driver, and we expect more of the same this year
The Booz & Company report, can be downloaded here . For related content, visit the Booz & Company Retail page, .
Booz & Company is a leading global management consulting firm focused on serving and shaping the senior agenda of the world-s leading institutions. Drawing on the talents and insights of more than 3,000 people in 58 offices around the world, we help our clients achieve essential advantage by working with them to identify and build the differentiating capabilities they need to outperform.
Siobhan Ford
Booz & Company
Telephone: 212-551-6234
E-mail:
Margaret Kashmir
Booz & Company
Telephone: 212-551-6086
E-mail:
You must be logged in to post a comment Login