wholesale holiday trends

Holiday Shopping Predictions 2021

During the 2020 holiday shopping season, most of the country was still on lockdown. While in-store shopping saw a growth of 2.2%, ecommerce was booming. Online shopping revenue jumped 32% from the previous year. As several states across the country are still battling Covid-19, holiday market trends are favoring online shopping as consumers' preferred choice. Below are some key takeaways we learned from the 2020 holiday season and how to prepare as an online retailer for 2021.

Expected holiday sales forecast for 2021

The spending forecast for this holiday season will see growth in both in-store and online sales. The 2020 US holiday season surpassed $1 trillion in sales. 2021 in-store holiday retail sales expect to rise by 2.7%. E-commerce sales expect to keep on climbing. Online sales are trending to increase by 11.3% this year.

An earlier shopping season

2020 has forever changed the way consumers shop. The pandemic created a very challenged global supply chain. Items were flying off the shelves and taking a long time to be restocked. Impulse buying is still very present for many Americans. As consumers and retailers are still working to balance the supply-chain, holiday shopping will begin earlier than previous years. Products that people need and want are potentially in short supply. Consumers will begin sourcing those items early to ensure they can get the most in-demand products for the holiday season.

Mobile Device Shopping

It should come as no surprise that people are spending more time on their phones. So it should also come as no surprise that people are shopping on their phones at higher rates. Between 2019 and 2020, mobile device purchasing increased overall by 14%. Half of the Christmas e-commerce revenue in 2020 came from mobile devices. Companies need to optimize their website and app speed to keep the shopping experience convenient for consumers. 70% of consumers surveyed said that page speed impacts their decision to buy from an online retailer.

Incentives

In 2020, consumers saw tremendous offers from online retailers. After a year of lockdowns and uncertainty, the holiday shopping season came back big and strong with sales incentives to boost consumer spending and confidence. For 2021, shoppers are expecting the same special deals, plus free shipping.  Promotions will be an essential part of e-commerce marketing plans.  Digital ads for mobile devices using social media channels will be vital this holiday season. The sales promotion that most encouraged consumers: a discount on their total purchase. 49% of shoppers said that a percentage or set dollar discount applied to their total was the most effective at convincing them to buy.

Social Apps

It’s not easy knowing what to buy for someone. Finding the perfect gift can be stressful. Online product research is not new. Yet, social media is changing the way consumers discover new products. Last holiday season, 8 in 10 consumers said that a social media app, like Facebook, drove their gift purchases. Many people found apps that curate recommendations and inspirations were how they discovered trending products. Social commerce represented 11% of the global retail e-commerce revenue.

Easy Shopping

Americans are always looking to save time and save money. After the 2020 holiday shopping season, 36% of consumers said they prefer to shop online because it takes up less time. Additionally, 27% said they shop online because it’s so easy and convenient. The holiday season is already hectic. Consumers want their online shopping experience to be fast and easy. They are expecting a simple checkout and payment process. Businesses need to optimize mobile payment methods and provide a seamless shopping experience to prepare for the holiday shopping season.

Unfortunately, the pandemic is far from over.  The Delta variant threat means that more Americans will be making fewer shopping trips to in-store retailers and malls. 2021 is forecast to be another very different holiday shopping season than we’ve seen before. Despite major economic uncertainty ahead, the early outlook for the 2021 holiday season is solid. Consumers are trying to regain some normalcy and are remaining optimistic.