November 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving to all our US readers around the world! Even through this has been a tough year, there’s always something to be thankful for. This is a festive season, the season of hope! On this day, we celebrate those who stood next to us through the hard times and the good. We are going through something together and we are changing. In many ways, this holiday season will be different. For many brands and retailers this is the busiest time of the year. In the last week’s Digital Retail Trends, we talked about Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 and it feels natural to continue with this topic today, spiced with other industry news. Let’s see what retailers are doing this holiday season and how do the consumer reports look.

The Digital Retail Holiday Season 2020

For the past 35 years, Deloitte has been producing a holiday retail report on consumer and retailer traditions. As you can imagine, this year has brought a few major changes in shoppers behavior. Many are planning to cut on spending, in-store purchases, travel and events, and time spent shopping. Average budget is lower this year ($1,387 per household) and shoppers across all age groups are seeking contactless options. “Price, product, and convenience remain top of mind for consumers.” Source: Statista A more optimistic predictions come from the National Retail Federation who announced that they expect a 3.6% to 5.2% holiday season sales increase, due to the “psychological factors” such as soothing pandemic anxiety with good old shopping binge. Moreover, based on some consumer surveys, a sizeable group of consumers is ready to spend more on household goods and personal care products since they saved on travel, events, restaurants, and night life. [The Washington Post] A few innovative brands are experimenting with “Anti Black Friday” messaging this year for different reasons. Some are pointing out the necessity for a more sustainable shopping habits, raising awareness against the holiday pressure shopping, while others are just gamifying the experience trying to alleviate the stress around shopping. Shopify took an extra mile with a promise to offset carbon emission from orders placed over the shopping weekend. A way to go! ? [MorningBrew] Apple’s Black Friday shopping event is back! But it’s not a classic BF sale so how does it work? Choose from the eligible Apple products and buy one from 27 – 30 November to receive a Apple gift card up to $150 to use with your next purchase. See all offers » Shopify announces partnership with Alipay to allow their merchants a new payment gateway. Strategically, this opens the “gateway” to more than a billion active users in China alone — and, hundreds of millions more across Asia. Shopify merchants have had the Alipay payment option through third-party providers but this partnerships will reduce friction for customers. That’s all folks! Take care and enjoy this holiday season responsibly! Visit Retail Reloaded for our in-depth digital retail stories.