With the coronavirus impacting how shoppers are spending their money, I am sharing some information on the 2020 holiday sales forecasts.
Of course, many of these quotes are surveyed and speculative answers, but they should give some insights into your holiday planning.
One of the best articles I found on the subject was posted mid-June from Bizrate Insights’ article: How has COVID-19 impacted holiday shopping plans?
Tips from the article:
- The majority of respondents – 52% – indicated that they plan on spending the same amount as last year. However, only 4% of shoppers plan to spend more on holiday gifts than they spent the previous year. Far more look to be limiting their spending, with 21% responding that they’ll spend less on gifts than in 2019….
- COVID-19 has inspired many consumers to make adjustments to their planned
purchases. Many shoppers now plan to spend more on gift cards, with 15% pivoting to purchasing these instead of what they had originally planned. Another 9% are focused on buying essential items like groceries or healthcare products.
Even though spending is predicted to be lower this season, the good news is that consumers plan to buy gift cards.
This could be the perfect time to add a gift card option to your website.
With a little effort, you can create (or have a printer create for you) a simple, but memorable gift card. Having done this myself with our former Tastes of Idaho business, I used Microsoft Publisher to design gift cards.
Most e-commerce software offer options to sell gift cards to your customers. Once they buy the card, you can send them directly to the gift recipient or back to the buyer, depending on the option they choose.
As an update, Bizrate Insights posted another article in July:
In July, 70% of consumers reported that they purchased items online because they felt safer doing so. This is an increase of 15% since the early days of the pandemic in April, indicating that even as lockdown orders lift, consumers are largely staying cautious.
Should not be a surprise! As I mentioned in my last article, Christmas in August, now is the time to update your website! And make sure to develop an option for consumers to purchase gift cards for the holiday gift-giving!
If you need help in updating your website for the holiday season, watch for my special announcement coming in the next few days!