Consumer Holiday Trends and Predictions for 2020

The 2020 holiday season promises to be unlike any other. The pandemic has many retailers wondering how they'll recover the lost revenue of the year without a holiday rush. Furthermore, attracting foot traffic over e-commerce customers has been a struggle in recent years— and that's not about to change.

Innovative thinking and strategizing are vital for retailers to be successful during the 2020 holiday season. Here are some consumer holiday trends and predictions to guide the process.

Prioritizing Loyalty

Customer loyalty was always essential in business. This year, however, consumers are sticking to their guns when it comes to loyalty. They're looking for companies that made an impact during the pandemic and contributed to the community in some way. Reports from June 2020 indicate that more than half of consumers were only spending with their favorite brands.

Retailers should start reaching out to loyal and retained customers as soon as possible to shift the messaging toward the holidays. Creating special shopping events and discounts can help remind loyal customers of your business during the holidays.

Increased Budget-Consciousness

The global layoffs and businesses shutting down have created a level of financial awareness in the average consumer that wasn't there last holiday season. On average, US consumer debt decreased by 14% from January to May 2020. Many consumers realized how unsustainable their spending habits were and have set goals to create emergency savings accounts and spend less on goods.

This increased budget-consciousness will carry over throughout the holiday season. Consumers will be looking for opportunities to save, from seeking out wholesale jewelry to bulk discounts. By showing customers how they can save and listing some high-value door crashers, retailers can attract foot traffic and push impulse purchases.

Delivery and Pick-Up Options

Whether consumers will head to stores or shop online is a bit of a wildcard. There are plenty of consumers who are more inclined to look at e-commerce options. Conversely, there are plenty of consumers who desire the shopping experience and a sense of normalcy this year.

Appeal to both by offering new delivery and pick-up options. Consider adding touchless shopping options with self-checkouts and barcode lists similar to Ikea. These innovations will help improve the shopping experience for everyone during this trying time.

Increase in Home and Lifestyle Gifts

As people are spending more time at home and expanding their baking and cooking skills, many gifts will follow suit. It's expected that things like baking tools, cookbooks, home office accessories, indoor plants, and board games will surge in popularity this year.

By showcasing home and lifestyle gifts and using the home angle for marketing, you can attract more consumers this holiday season.

Small Gatherings and Holidays at Home

Another important consideration for this year is that many families will be staying at home or having small gatherings rather than the traditional family dinner. While this is challenging for many people, it's also an opportunity to create new traditions. For businesses, creating packages and highlighting items that tie into this experience is also an opportunity.

Put together packages and marketing materials that highlight baked good doorstep drop-offs, Christmas movie marathons, and creating new holiday traditions together. Shift away from messaging surrounding holiday entertaining, which could create a negative connotation.

Early Shopping Season

Another change in 2020 will be a shift in when people start their shopping. Many postal services have indicated that they expect more delays this year and have encouraged an early start. That means stores need to start advertising as soon as possible to get ahead of the e-commerce buzz.

The 2020 holiday season could make or break a lot of businesses. Planning ahead and considering the various angles will help retailers adapt to this new era in shopping and consumer behavior.