The 2020 holiday shopping season will close out an intense, unpredictable year for retailers and consumers alike. With ebbs and flows in retail sales and COVID-19 infection rates, retailers are entering an unprecedented holiday season.
Will the dip in the economy cause wallet tightening and subsequently, smaller holiday festivities? Or, as Brian Cornell of Target suggested, will factors such as canceled vacations and fewer restaurant excursions mean more money for gifts this year?
Keep on the pulse of retail holiday and seasonal trends here.
In 2019, holiday sales were up 4.1 percent with consumers planning to spend a total of $1,048 on average for items such as decorations, candy and gifts as well as other purchases for themselves and their families. The most requested gifts in the past few years include gift cards, clothing, books and other media.
Last year, 56 percent of consumers reported they would make their holiday purchases online; of those, 48 percent planned to use buy online, pick up in store. With the increase in online purchasing and BOPIS as a result of the pandemic, it would be unsurprising to see these numbers much higher this year.
Regardless of how people plan to celebrate, retailers are prepared to safely serve customers to meet their holiday needs. Salesforce has analyzed proprietary data from more than 1 billion global shoppers to predict consumer trends that will shape this holiday season. Learn more in NRF’s upcoming webinar, “How to Prepare for a Successful 2020 Holiday Shopping Season,” which will include five predictions that will shape the holiday season.
Register here to join NRF and Salesforce on August 27 at 1 p.m. ET.