Winning at the Holiday Shopping Game
By Kevin Gibbons
It’s the beginning of August, which means retailers are gearing up for the winter holiday shopping season. My partner, Melissa Tosetti, has a favorite pet peeve of pointing out the first Christmas ad or display she sees. Usually this occurs some time in July or August. But even if we are not seeing Christmas trees, snowmen and menorahs yet, you can be sure stores are laying out their sales and marketing strategies now.
In our web and video series on Savvy Shopping, we lead off with a discussion of the “diabolical marketing geniuses” at the major retail stores. Product placement, colors, music, even smells (do you know that Disneyland pumps artificial bakery smells into the air around their food concessions?) are all used to encourage you to make specific purchases. Now, these tools aren’t necessarily evil. Everyone has to make a living. But, if you are aware of what stores are doing, you as a shopper can understand and be more aware as you make your purchases.
So, what kinds of things are retailers planning for this holiday season? Fortunately, Experian has published a Holiday Shopping Guide for retailers, outlining consumer holiday shopping behavior trends. We can look at this guide to see what retailers may be thinking.
Holiday Shoppers spread their purchases across multiple months (Oct. – Dec.), with November being the core month.
This means retailers will be pushing to get shoppers in earlier, offering promotions and loyalty rewards, but inventories and selections will probably be best in November.
E-Commerce Sales continue to increase, but physical stores are still the dominate venue for purchasing, with 70% of sales occurring there.
In-store shopping is dominant in October, while E-Commerce leads in November and December, when Cyber Week deals are offered and people look at last-minute purchases and expedited shipping. Expect larger crowds in stores in October.
More consumers purchase office, electronics and games in person, while buying clothes, specialty products and warehouse club items on-line. This is a little counterintuitive because we tend to think that people like to try on clothes in person. But, especially for the holidays when you are likely buying for someone else, that is much less important.
So, think about where you can expect the crowds, and where shipments for on-line purchases may get bogged down. Realize that stores will give more in-store real estate to those items that more customers want to buy in the store.
If there is one piece of advice we can offer as you gear up for the holiday shopping season, it is this:
Give yourself time! It is much harder to make good decisions when you are under time pressure and panic buying, along with all the other time-pressed shoppers. Making good decisions requires having the time to consider, reflect and rationally choose.
Kevin Gibbons is a Cash Flow Planning Expert, the Vice President of The Savvy Life and co-author of the international bestseller Living The Savvy Life. For the past ten years, Kevin and Savvy Life Founder Melissa Tosetti have worked with over 700 individuals and families to create Spending Plans.
To learn about how Kevin and Melissa work with clients to create Spending Plans, visit The Savvy Life’s Home Page. If you’d like to learn about how they work with financial advisors and their clients visit: The Savvy Life Advisor’s Page
