Many Americans are taking advantage of the electronic age to get it done smarter, faster and more efficiently. They know how to find legitimate deals, avoid the fake ones and how to leave items in online shopping carts while they make sure they have the best deals they can find. To spot a shopper in the aisle of a leading retailer using a smartphone to check competing prices in another outlet is not outside the norm.
It’s this kind of savvy that took some of the energy out of Black Friday and other mega sales days this year. Many retailers who invested in huge advertising promotions before Thanksgiving apparently left customers with the impression that the deals were so big they had plenty of time to take part in the annual shopping spree without hassling the crowds.
C. Britt Beemer of America’s Research Group, reported that 75 percent of of the Black Friday shoppers were focused only on the door busters, deeply discounted specials that retailers hope will get people into the store. Last year, only 49.9 percent of the Black Friday shoppers said that the door buster was their main objective. The stores, many of whom have losses on the door busters, also lost the additional revenue generated by the impulse spending they hoped for once the customer was inside the doors.
ShopperTrak, a consumer analytics company that tracks in-store purchases, pegged the Thanksgiving weekend sales at $21.76 billion, a dip of 2.1 percent over the last holiday season. Sales rose 8.5 percent on the Monday after that weekend, an indication that more people were opting to miss the rush without feeling they might miss the best deals. Even so, before the end of the year, sales for November and December will have increase by 4.1 percent, the National Federation predicts. Most retailers see 20 percent of their sales in those two year-end months.
This is how shoppers are doing things smarter and changing the way the retailers are likely to approach the holidays in the future:
It takes more to catch the buyers’ attention now than in a less sophisticated day. If the retailer offers 20 percent off, they may ask for free shipping too. They are more savvy about the elements of retail selling and more apt to press the limits. Free shipping is, in fact, a big factor in online shopping. Merchants that don’t offer the service have 10 to 15 percent lower sales on their websites, according to analysts. Target is piloting a free shipping policy and saw online sales surge, the company reported. Their free shipping deal is available through Dec. 20.
Online buying obviously is making more inroads into store sales. Shoppers are not in such a hurry as they once were. This year has not seen any toys that are so hot people have a hard time finding them, reducing the mad scrambles that occurred in the past with such items as Cabbage Patch dolls and Tickle-Me Elmo. The shopper is willing to wait for further discounts as the season progresses. That puts the customer in the driver’s seat.
Online shoppers are learning to hold items in a shopping cart while they take time to look for better deals. They may have full shopping carts waiting for some time before consummating their deals.
In all, the 2014 shopping season may impact what happens in the future as shoppers become even more tuned in. Watch and see.
