REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Oct. 26,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- While the pandemic has caused a surge
in online shopping, a new Oracle Retail survey shows that many
customers are ready to venture back into stores this holiday
season. Nearly 20% of shoppers surveyed plan to do most of their
shopping in-store with 47% planning to split purchases between
online and brick-and-mortar shops. Still another 16% plan to make
it as close as the parking lot, opting to retrieve orders curbside.
And, despite the challenging year, 58% of consumers expect to spend
the same or more on holiday shopping than they did last
year.
Customers don't, however, want to deal with the hassle of
returns. While last year, 77% of consumers planned to make at least
one return, this year that number dropped to 38%.
"The holidays promise to test a retailer's ability to serve
customers how and where they want to shop," said Mike Webster, senior vice president and general
manager, Oracle Retail. "With customers shopping both online and
in-store, and taking advantage of new retrieval options such as
curbside pick-up and 'buy online pick up in-store,' retailers are
going to have to be firing on all cylinders to meet customer
expectations in an already difficult environment."
The survey polled 5,143 consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany and the United Arab Emirates in September 2020 about their COVID-19 shopping
habits and plans for holiday shopping. Unwrap your complimentary
copy of the report here.
Holiday gift list
With travel limited and a desire to
avoid returns, it was no surprise to see gift cards as a top
holiday gift this year. Here is what consumers said they plan to
spend more on this year:
- 39% - of shoppers plan to spend more on apparel and
necessities
- 29% - electronics
- 27% - gift cards
- 19% - sporting goods/hobbies
- 15% - luxury items (handbags, fashion, and jewelry)
"With more consumers avoiding returns, redeeming gift cards will
be the next big opportunity for retailers to engage customers and
extend sales post-holiday," noted Webster.
Out of stock, out of luck
A lack of inventory will be the fastest way for retailers to end up
on this year's naughty list.
- 47% of respondents said out-of-stock merchandise topped their
list for a bad shopping experience
- 63% said they weren't willing to wait for an item to be back in
stock before trying another brand
"In the pandemic, many retailers' in-store stock was depleted or
completely sold out," added Webster. "During the holidays it will
be critical for retailers to fill the shelves and use their
physical locations both to serve shoppers and as fulfillment
centers to handle online orders and get shipments out to customers
quickly."
Malls live, but safety precautions and masks are
crucial
While there has been much discussion about how
indoor malls will fare in the pandemic, shoppers were mostly
unconcerned about the location as long as the proper safety
precautions were in place.
- 18% of shoppers felt safest in an indoor mall; 24% in outdoor
shopping venues; and 58% were fine with either with the proper
safety precautions.
- 79% said it was important to see staff and other customers
wearing masks.
- 82% said it was important to see visible cleaning efforts.
- 66% of shoppers noted contactless checkout was important.
- 76% noted reduced occupancy levels in stores as key.
- 39% of shoppers also said a lack of social distancing would
cause them to have a bad shopping experience.
Consumers get social with new brands
As consumers
spent more time shopping online during COVID-19, the survey found
that 48% had discovered new brands on social media. This is a clear
signal to retailers that upping social advertising this holiday
season could impact sales.
- 65% of shoppers discovered a new brand via Facebook
- 53% via Instagram
- 49% via YouTube
- 29% via TikTok
The delivery nightmare before Christmas
While
retailers experiment with alternative retrieval options, home
delivery is still the top choice amongst consumers. This could
present a delivery nightmare as shipping times will naturally get
extended due to volume. To ease anxiety, 73% of consumers said
real-time updates on item location throughout the delivery process
is important. Here's how shoppers plan to retrieve online
purchases:
- 66% of respondents prefer home delivery.
- 18% will buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS).
- 16% will buy online and pick up curbside.
"Every parent nervously waiting for their child's holiday gift
to arrive will attest that transparency from retailers is an
absolute must," noted Webster. "Brands have to have the systems in
place to communicate with customers every step of the way – from
ordering through to delivery."
Moving from browser to buyer
When shopping online or
in-store, consumers cited these reasons for moving from a browser
to a buyer:
- 55% a great price.
- 49% special offers or discounts (such as buy one, get one
free).
- 25% immediate availability and fast shipping time.
To learn more about how Oracle Retail is helping customers and
retailers have a happy holiday season, visit:
www.oracle.com/retail
About Oracle Retail
Oracle is the platform for modern
retail. Oracle provides retailers with a complete, open, and
integrated platform for leading retail solutions, cloud services,
and hardware that are engineered to work together. Innovative
retailers use Oracle solutions to pivot to customer and to drive
agility across the business. Oracle Retail customers can deliver an
authentic customer experience while protecting their people,
processes, brand, and customers. For more information, visit our
website www.oracle.com/retail.
About Oracle
The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite
of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human
Resources, Finance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing, plus Highly
Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the
Oracle Autonomous Database. For more information about Oracle
(NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.
Trademarks
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks
of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
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SOURCE Oracle