Last year, Thanksgiving weekend shoppers surpassed expectations with more than 174 million Americans shopping in-store or online, the National Retail Federation reports. The biggest holiday weekend for retailers now includes Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Sunday, and Cyber Monday. Shoppers spent a record $5.03 billion online on Black Friday—up 17 percent from last year. Spending increased $2 billion on Cyber Monday as well, with consumers spending $6.59 billion.
Our question for retailers: Are you ready for this holiday season?
We're working with retailers now to plan striking creative campaigns, store décor, POP/Promotions, and customer experiences. Here are just a few of the things you should be considering now to make sure it's all gravy this Thanksgiving shopping season.
Read: A GUIDE TO RETAIL PRINT GRAPHICS GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR WINDOWS, WALLS, DOORS, & FLOORS
Focus on Customer Experience
Online sales and convenience, along with avoiding the crowds, are more attractive to shoppers than ever. The days when shoppers were content to browse the aisles of a traditional retail establishment are gone, and many well-established retailers are shuttering brick-and-mortar stores at an alarming rate. Some smaller retailers, like fashion chain Bebe, are closing all of their stores in order to focus on their online sales, while others, such as the Limited, are out of business for good. So what do shoppers want? Retail experts say that today's shoppers value experience more than their predecessors. Forward-thinking retailers are creating a more experiential retail environment, while making sure their e-commerce experience and logistics are on point.
Take Advantage of Online Ordering Systems
Online ordering systems are a great way to maintain brand consistency, increase your speed to market and eliminate unnecessary expense and waste. Online storefronts filled with print collateral/graphics allow for enhanced collaboration in the ordering process, as well as a level of buyer/seller transparency that would be hard to achieve otherwise. Online ordering systems help your locations be more efficient year-round, and are an essential tool when gearing up for important holiday shopping seasons.
Invest in Creative
Visually creative campaigns are critically important today for online sales. In visually-based digital spaces like social media, video reigns supreme. With such a focus on visual marketing, print is perfectly poised to reinforce those same experiences in the physical space. A retailer's marketing focus should be all about visual storytelling—a combination of strong design, creative ideas, and a compelling story.
Big Data & The Customer Journey
Technology makes it possible to gain a deep understanding of our audiences and their buying behaviors. The key is using that data as effectively as possible as you build your holiday shopping campaigns and promotions. Through integrated or multichannel marketing, more companies will be delivering highly personalized and adaptable messages to their audiences via print (direct mail) and digital platforms (personalized micro-sites).
This year, work with an experienced graphics and print partner who knows the needs of retailers big and small. We can help you create and deliver a smart, visually stunning campaign this holiday season—from start to finish.
