Apparel Online India Magazine October 1st Issue 2018 | Page 10

WORLD WRAP
US retail upbeat for holiday sales 2018…
Learnings from last year shaping strategies
There are many factors that are raising expectations of retailers for the upcoming holiday season from a bumper
sale during the period last year to the continuous improvement in retail sales over this year. Retail experts
and market watchers believe that currently, consumer confidence in the US is high, as unemployment is low
and wages are increasing. According to latest eMarketer forecast, all holiday retail sales (online and in-store)
in 2018 will grow by 3.8% to US $ 691.9 billion – though this projection is very positive, but not as impressive
as the 5.5% gain that US saw last year. On the other hand, Deloitte is projecting a 5.0 to 5.6% increase in total
retail sales overall for the holiday season.
T
he buzz around Christmas sales is
starting earlier than the previous
year, for many years now. In fact,
many of the predictions, suggestions
and analyses for the current year’s
season started coming in as early
as January end, as soon as the
final data for the past season was
compiled. This is not surprising,
considering that the holiday season
is the biggest grosser for retail, both
offline and online, and retailers work
meticulously to ensure that they get
a decent chunk of the heightened
business volume. Now that we are into
October, the activity and preparation
for the holiday sales is on full swing…,
from product portfolio to how best the
consumer is enticed.
The first thrust is on getting an
edge during Black Friday sales that
falls a day after the US holiday of
Thanksgiving, which is the fourth
ESSENTIALS
Analysing what
worked for retailers
and consumers
last year, many
predictions are
being made – three
major predictions
have emerged –
Holiday browsing
and buying will start
earlier than ever;
Online penetration
and impact is going
to get bigger and
giving consumers
experience and not
just a good product is
the way forward.
Thursday of November and is officially
regarded as the first day of the
Christmas shopping season, on which
retailers make many special offers. Of
late, as a marketing strategy, online
retailers have started promoting
what is now called Cyber Monday
and which falls on the Monday after
Thanksgiving, as a day for exceptional
bargains. Data from Adobe Analytics
showed that the combined totals for
Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday
2017 were up 17.9% to US $ 7.9 billion,
while Cyber Monday 2017 ended up
being the single biggest US online
shopping day ever with US $ 6.59
billion in sales – just short of the
predicted US $ 6.6 billion, but still
up nearly 17% more to that of the
previous year. through the many reports that have
emerged, three major predictions have
emerged that are being endorsed by
every research and market forecaster
– Holiday browsing and buying
will start earlier than ever; Online
penetration and impact is going to
get bigger, and consumers experience
and not just a good product the way
forward. Other predictions are in
many ways interlinked with these
three core movements. The going is
tougher for the bricks-and-mortar
stores, but using the omni-challenge
route effectively can translate into
big business for the stores. After all,
Christmas is also about family time
and doing things together… Shopping
is one of the activities families like to
indulge in as a run up to the festival.
Analysing what worked for retailers
and consumers last year, many
predictions are being made. Going Holiday browsing and
buying will start earlier
and end much later
In the last few years, it has been
observed that October and not
November is the time when consumers
start searching for deals. Responding
to this trend, many retailers from
Amazon to Walmart have started
offering deals days and even weeks
prior to Black Friday. The trend
impacts both online and bricks-
an