By now it is no secret that online shopping exploded during the pandemic. Now called “couch commerce,” consumers stuck at home turned to the Internet to fill pantries, set up home offices (and schools), get fit, and stay entertained.
There’s no indication this trend will abate before the 2020 holiday season. Experts are saying that consumers will congregate around promotions and by Cyber Monday 50% of online holiday shopping will already be completed.
This is the Year of Click-And-Collect
If you aren’t Amazon or Walmart, what are the things you can do to compete? The volume of purchases will put a strain on already busy shipping and fulfillment departments and vendors. Click-and-Collect is going to be a significant opportunity for local brick-and-mortar businesses. Letting customers know that they can avoid shipping delays by buying locally and picking up curbside will become a key holiday message.
Digital advertising is working right now — consumers are online at home on their laptops (vs mobile) in large numbers — direct email advertising to your customer list and retargeting website visitors are expected to deliver the top results.
What products will work with Click-and-Collect? Half of all consumer electronic purchases are now made online, so if you have any nexus products that support digital lives those should be promoted. Apparel (especially those cute outfits for all the summer events we did not attend) will continue to be depressed unless it is leisure and exercise wear. However, pundits have suggested promoting classic comfort and buying before next year’s rush.
Specialty food and alcohol are expected to loom large over house-bound holiday events. As will gift certificates for aspirational gifts.
The early appearance of Prime Day while not necessarily a bump for small businesses is expected to drive product interest across the board and should give you an opportunity to start building holiday purchase retargeting audiences from all those lookie-lous.