Retail Guide: Getting Your Store Ready for the Holiday Shopping Season

With back-to-school shopping wrapped up, retailers are now gearing up for the most important time of the year: the holiday season.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), holiday sales in 2023 reached $964.4 billion, a 3.8% increase from 2022, despite ongoing inflation rates. These numbers highlight how much potential this season holds for the retail industry.

By strategically preparing your store, you can capitalize on this high-demand period, attract more customers, and create a shopping experience that keeps them coming back after the holidays are over.

Click here to explore strategies to get your store holiday-ready, or continue reading to discover our latest insights into consumer holiday shopping behavior.

Holiday Shopping Trends: Insights into Consumer Behavior

To help you plan and set your store up for success, we surveyed over 1,400 consumers across North America about their spending plans and preferences for this coming holiday shopping season. 

Curious about the full details? Download the Holiday Shopping Trends infographic below, or keep reading to dive into all the insights!

 

Timing of Holiday Shopping

• 60% of respondents start shopping multiple months in advance.
• 28% begin in the month of the holiday.
• A smaller percentage (9%) start shopping two weeks before or one week before the holiday.

Popular Gifts

When it comes to gifts, customers have clear preferences. The top items they choose include:

• Clothing and accessories: 70%
• Gift cards: 70%
• Toys and hobbies: 56%

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday

Not surprisingly, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain hugely popular shopping days:

• 59% of customers are planning to take advantage of both.

• The most sought-after items on both days are holiday gifts, electronics, and clothing.

Most Popular Channels for Holiday Shopping

Customers prefer different channels to make their holiday purchases:

• 37% shop through online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay.
• 28% prefer shopping on the retailer’s website.
• 28% enjoy the in-store shopping experience.
• 7% prefer using the retailer’s app.

Promotional Preferences

Discounts and deals play a significant role in attracting consumers:

• Percentage-off discounts are the most popular, with 44% of consumers favoring them.
• Dollar-off discounts appeal to 25% of customers.
• Buy 1 get 1 free (BOGO) offers are a hit among 16%.

Factors Influencing Purchase Decisions

Several factors sway customers’ decisions when making purchases:

• Free delivery is a major influencer for 82% of respondents.
• Sales of items attract 80%.
• A good return policy matters to 53% of customers.
• 51% rely on customer reviews before making a purchase.
  
  

Strategies to Prepare for the Holiday Shopping Season

Here are some effective, proactive approaches to get ready for the holiday shopping season and maximize retail sales: 

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping offers a strategic way to get insights, fine-tune your operations, and deliver a memorable in-store and online shopping experience.

Enhance In-Store Experience

Use mystery shopping to get an insider's view of your store and assess key touchpoints. Evaluate critical areas such as employee friendliness, checkout processes, shelf stocking, and overall store cleanliness and organization. 

These factors are essential in creating a smooth shopping experience that helps customers navigate easily through the store to find and purchase the products they are looking for, even on the busiest days. 

Optimize Online Shopping

For your e-commerce platform, mystery shopping can help smooth out the digital journey by identifying online shoppers' pain points in website navigation, checkout functionality, and online customer service features. 

Have you considered adding chatbots to speed up customer support or rolling out a special holiday return policy? Mystery shoppers can check if these tools are working as they should. They’ll help you get additional insights or find gaps to make necessary adjustments on the online shopping journey before the holiday rush and maximize online sales.

Ensure Brand Consistency 

The holiday season’s high traffic should drive sales, not compromise quality.

Mystery shopping helps you assess and maintain brand consistency across key touchpoints, ensuring customers have a positive experience even during peak times. 

It also helps identify potential bottlenecks and service gaps before they escalate, allowing you to prepare your team to handle the rush effectively. This proactive approach reduces the risk of service issues that could damage the brand’s reputation during the busiest shopping season.

Speaking about preparing your team, use the mystery shopping insights to design targeted training sessions that address customer service excellence, product knowledge, smooth return procedures, and efficient checkout processes. 

By preparing your team, you ensure they're ready to deliver exceptional service, even under the holiday pressure.

Customer Feedback Surveys

Gathering feedback early, you can pinpoint areas where your service or operations might fall short and address these issues before the holiday peak. 

Gauge Product and Service Satisfaction

Customer feedback surveys are a powerful tool for understanding what resonates with your shoppers and where improvements are needed. 

These surveys help you pinpoint, for example, which products are popular, get feedback on loyalty programs, and identify shopping habits.

Getting feedback immediately after purchase—whether online or in-store—provides timely insights into both product and service satisfaction. For instance, you can get data on consumer sentiment, determine if customers found the product they were looking for, or assess their experience with mobile payment solutions.

If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to implement customer feedback surveys, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). These tools will help you gather actionable insights and enhance the customer experience, setting you up for a successful holiday season.

Digital Checklists

Using digital checklists lets your team stay organized and accountable, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks during the peak season.

They help ensure that every task, from stocking shelves to setting up promotional displays, is completed on time and to standard. 

If you have multiple store locations, digital checklists can help you maintain a consistent customer experience across all of them. Standardizing tasks, like opening and closing procedures, ensures that each location meets your brand’s quality and standards.

Digital checklists also make inventory and merchandising management more efficient. For instance, automated alerts can notify the team when shelves are running low on popular items, allowing for quick restocking before customers see gaps.

Retail Merchandising

Preparing multiple store locations for the holiday shopping season can be a big task. Partnering with a company for retail merchandising solutions can simplify the process. Here’s how they can assist:

Seasonal Displays and Signage

Setting up seasonal displays and signage is essential for attracting customer attention and supporting promotional efforts during the busy holiday.

Temporary Modular Displays (TMDs), which are often made of cardboard and feature holiday graphics, can effectively showcase seasonal products and attract buyer attention.

Shelf Re-Alignment and Planogram Adjustments

Adjusting store layouts to fit new holiday merchandise is important for effective product placement. Realigning shelves according to updated planograms (POGs) ensures that seasonal items are well-displayed and organized, enhancing your holiday shopping strategies.

Ongoing Store Support

Working with a retail merchandising company can provide you with holiday staff to help maintain store operations. This includes keeping shelves stocked and managing inventory levels, ensuring everything runs smoothly and customers have a positive shopping experience.

Conclusion

Effective preparation is crucial for a successful holiday shopping season. The right tools and strategies can significantly enhance your store's operations and customer experience.

• Mystery shopping provides valuable insights into operations and customer experience, helping you identify and address potential issues before the holiday rush. 
• Customer feedback surveys offer real-time product and service satisfaction data, guiding from product selection to promotional strategies. 
• Digital checklists streamline operations and ensure consistency across multiple locations.
• Retail merchandising services help set up seasonal displays, manage inventory, and provide ongoing support.

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively prepare your retail brand for the holiday season, improving the shopping experience and maximizing revenue from the year's busiest season.

We're here to assist if you need help gathering operational and customer experience insights and preparing for a successful holiday season. Let us help you make this holiday season your best one yet.