E-Commerce For The Holiday Win

By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
Follow Me On Twitter @ErinHarris_1

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is Thursday and that Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are also around the corner. This year, shoppers will have more time to eat, drink, and be thankful since several retailers, including hh gregg, DSW, Home Goods, Home Depot, and more have decided to keep their doors closed on Thanksgiving in an effort to help their workforce (as well as their customers) spend more quality time with family and friends. Even the country’s largest mall, Mall of America, will remain closed on Thanksgiving. But, most retailers will reopen their doors bright and early for Black Friday's eager crowds. Thanksgiving’s closed doors probably won’t pose a problem for retail sales; Fung Global Retail & Technology predicts retail spending for the U.S. holiday season to increase by 3-4%, versus last year’s 3.2% and the 2.5% average over the last decade.

Indeed, brick-and-mortar retailer should fare well on Black Friday and throughout the Holiday shopping season. But, this year, the smart money’s on e-commerce. Here’s one important reason why. During this time of year, seasonal workers are a given, and NRF forecasts seasonal hires will be somewhere in the 690,000 range with the biggest hiring need going to transportation, warehousing, and entertainment facilities. Indeed, Fung Global Retail & Technology states “Target is hiring 7,500 facilities workers, while JCPenney plans to hire 2,000 workers to fulfill online orders. Amazon is also hiring 120,000 seasonal workers in customer fulfillment and customer service, a 20% increase from last year. This indicates that retailers are expecting the main driver of growth to come from e-commerce this holiday season.” Given the attention and resources given to fulfillment, e-commerce sales could have their best year yet. According to eMarketer, U.S. e-commerce sales will jump 17.2% this holiday season, and U.S. retail m-commerce sales will increase 43.2% in 2016 to $115.92 billion.

Here’s a key to Holiday success. Whether the shopper chooses to shop the brand via brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, m-commerce — or realistically a combination of all three — the experience has to be seamless and enjoyable. Period. We look forward to hearing about your experiences.

From all of us at Innovative Retail Technologies, we wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!