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Holiday Shoppers Have More Cash, Less Patience This Year
Holiday shoppers are more than ready to spend this year. The question is which boats will be lifted by this rising tide. Judging by results of an A.T. Kearney survey, it may not be the same stores that benefited last year.
Consumers have long and, in many instances, unpleasant memories of 2017 holiday shopping. Recalling last year’s experiences, A.T. Kearney reported, shoppers cited long lines (84%), aggressive crowds (67%), out-of-stock items (67%), and poor service (57%) among their chief complaints.
Over 60% of survey respondents said they’re willing to change where they shop based on their negative experiences during the 2017 holiday season. “While holiday shoppers are clearly intent on getting the best deals, the survey found that avoiding the holiday rush has become their second most important objective,” according to A.T. Kearney.
Forty percent of respondents plan on buying from different retailers, online and off, than they did in 2017, while 23% of those surveyed indicated a willingness to shift their primary buying online, or to mobile, as a result of bad in-store experiences. Online shoppers reported similar complaints when it comes to out-of-stock merchandise, which for them was the biggest headache of the 2017 holidays.
The good news for brick-and-mortar operators is that in-store holiday traffic is not going away, A.T. Kearney reported. In fact, 76% of survey respondents plan to spend the same amount or more in-store compared to last year. The largest sales gains are expected to come from younger shoppers, especially younger men.
However, according to A.T. Kearney, “this likely means continued or even increased lines, crowds, and out-of-stocks for the retailers that experienced the greatest challenges last year,” even though 16 percent of shoppers said they planned to complete at least half their holiday shopping before Black Friday.
To address these challenges, retailers hope to hire around 10% more temporary store personnel this holiday season, even in a tight labor market. And there are solutions available in automation and supply chain efficiencies as well.
“The message to retailers is clear: whether you are looking for human solutions or designing workarounds to a trained-labor shortage, your customers are going to be more impatient and less forgiving than in past years,” A.T. Kearney warned. “And, in a year when those shoppers have more money in their wallets and are more open to spending it, not giving them what they want could turn out to be an expensive mistake.”
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Paul Bubny
