retail | The Genuine ScLoHo aka Scott Howard

Top 10 Holiday Shopping Days of 2023

by Scott Howard | Nov 27, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

If the experts are correct, retailers should get set for a very Merry 2023 shopping season.

According to the 2023 Deloitte holiday survey, the holiday spirit and spending will rebound and consumers expect to spend $1,652, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time. As givers grapple with inflation expectations, they still plan to spend nearly 14% more than last year.

Are you ready for the rush?

While some gifts have already been purchased and wrapped, on average, the top 10 busiest shopping days in the U.S. account for approximately 40% of all holiday retail traffic.

Businesses that are well-planned and run well-executed events and promotions during and around these ten days will help garner more than their fair share of the holiday shopping pie. Knowing when the shoppers are ready to shop and being prepared for them is paramount to getting that fair share.

Stores that plan in-store special events and then promote them will see more significant store traffic and greater sales than those that simply sit back and “hope” people stop in. Inviting holiday shoppers into the store at key buying times can and will make all the difference.

The busiest shopping days will see some slight changes in 2023, due to Christmas falling on a Monday. With that said, 2 of the top 10 have already passed as Black Friday will hold its title as the busiest shopping day.

Are you ready?

According to an analysis from the retail traffic consulting and analytics group of Sensormatic Solutions, a Johnson Controls company, here are what are expected to be the 10 busiest shopping days of 2023:

1. Friday, Nov. 24 – Black Friday

2. Saturday, Dec. 23 – Super Saturday

3. Saturday, Dec. 16 – Third Saturday in December

4. Friday, Dec. 22 – Friday before Christmas

5. Saturday, Nov. 25 – Saturday after Black Friday

6. Tuesday, Dec. 26 – Boxing Day

7. Saturday, Dec. 9 – Second Saturday in December

8. Saturday, Dec. 2 – First Saturday in December

9. Saturday, Dec. 30 – Saturday after Christmas

10. Sunday, Dec. 17 – Sunday before Christmas Eve

While this article focuses on retail, there is major money being spent in and around the holiday season in many other business categories. For example, life insurance and investments, HVAC, and many end-of-year health care procedures are being completed. The age-old saying, “making hay while the sun shines” is appropriate in these and other categories as well.

Most, but not all of the companies I work with are not dependent on the end of year sales that most retailers count on. We build long term, year round marketing campaigns however we will also kick it into high gear when there is a reason like the holidays we are in right now.

If you would like help in planning any of your marketing and/or advertising events for this holiday season, it’s not too late. Or if you want to start planning for 2024, this is the time. Contact me Scott @ ScLoHo.net.

Readers of my Sound ADvice weekly newsletter got that list a few weeks ago and I’ve been working with them to make sure we have everything in place. If you would like my free Sound ADvice newsletter too, send an email to Scott@ScLoHo.net.

Brick & Mortar vs E-Commerce

by Scott Howard | Jan 18, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, Sound ADvice

“Extra – Extra, Read All About It!!! Brick-and-Mortar stores are dead! E-commerce is the way everyone will shop in the future. Extra – Extra, Read All About It!!!”

If you read the retail industry trades or e-commerce newsletters and blogs at all, that chant has been thrown around for the past decade and the COVID era has made it even louder!

But is it true? To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Rumors of the death of brick-and-mortar retail are greatly exaggerated”

Although e-commerce shopping continues to grow rapidly, brick-and-mortar stores are still holding up well versus online retail sites, as many people still prefer the in-store shopping experience where they can see and try out products before committing to a purchase.

Here are some facts:

In 2020, e-commerce made up 14% of all retail sales.

Brick-and-mortar makes up the other 86%.

Total e-commerce sales in the US in 2020: $759.47 Billion

Total Brink-and-Mortar retail sales in the US in 2020: $5.6 Trillion (that’s Trillion as in 12-zeros, 000,000,000,000). Source: Forbes.com

Further proof that brick-and-mortar is here to stay is that Amazon has announced it is opening brick-and-mortar stores. These large department-like stores will be roughly 30,000 sq ft.

It’s not Amazon’s first venture into retail. Amazon, which dominates the online shopping space, made its biggest bet in brick-and-mortar with the acquisition of upscale grocer, Whole Foods, in 2017.

What does this all mean? There is good news and bad news. The good news is.. despite what the e-commerce trade magazines would like you to believe, brick-and-mortar is going to be around for a while. The bad news is.. competition is going to get even tougher for existing retail businesses. Amazon is no slouch!

While there is no denying that e-commerce is and will continue to grow, there will always be local brick-and-mortar retail stores lining our main streets. However, as competition continues to increase from all fronts, the key to survival and continued growth will be your ability to evolve!

In the Six Ways to Compete with E-commerce, tip #2 is: Offer Online Services. They say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. The six most popular reasons consumers shop via e-commerce are lower pricing, free delivery, wider selections/variety of options, comparison shopping, no sales pressure, and convenience. With the exception of Amazon, most products found on e-commerce sights are not less expensive. It’s simple, the “convenience” of shopping online is having products delivered to your door. Keep in mind, the word FREE is key in delivery. Companies that offer free delivery (Amazon Prime) tend to be much more popular than those that add a fee.

If free delivery is not an option, BOPUS (Buy Online Pick Up at Store) may be a viable option.

The game’s not over and if you are keeping score, as of the end of third quarter 2021 (latest statistic via Statista Dec 3rd, 2021), the score is brick-and-mortar 87% vs e-commerce 13%. Yes, e-commerce grew from 13.5% in 2020 to 13.8% in the second quarter of 2021, but then fell slightly to 13% in the third quarter of 2021.

The more the world changes, the more consumers demand. To stay ahead of the ever-changing competition, as business owners we need to continue to evolve. To see Six Ways to Complete with E-commerce, click here.

Note: The statistics provide are from sites via the internet and are from non-e-commerce companies. If you visit enough e-commerce sites, you will find conflicting data which provides more favorable results for their subscribers.

I have one more important fact for you to consider and that is the reliability factor of measuring your advertising R.O.I. attribution.

Those in the web world like to push the falsehood that online is 100% trackable. Having spent significant time working in the e-commerce world, I understand what they are saying, because it is common practice to put tracking codes on the links that we see in email or online. But there are other significant factors that influenced us to click on those links such as brand awareness, reputation, word of mouth and other things that aren’t trackable. If anyone tells you that digital marketing is better than other forms for those reasons, please be skeptical and you can even reach out to me for an unbiased but informed opinion and insight.

Cashing In On Tax Time

by Scott Howard | Jan 28, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights

America’s Payday

It’s not actually a pay “day”, it’s more like a pay “period”, January 27th through April 15th and beyond. January 27th is the first day that Americans can file their tax returns, and of course, you know what day April 15th is.

In 2019, 95.7 million Americans received a tax refund and the “average” refund was $2725.00. 2020 is expected to be very much the same.

The graph below shows when people typically file their returns. As you can see, a large percentage procrastinate and file during the last week. I used to think that the folks who filed early were the ones getting refunds and those who waited were the ones that owed Uncle Sam. But that was too logical and in reality, we just follow our natural tendencies, unless there’s a reason to act sooner. That’s the subject this week.

So, what do Americans do with all this money, and more importantly, are you prepared to capture your fair share of it? The graph below clearly shows that regardless of what type of business you own, you stand a decent chance of being on the receiving end of some of this refund bonanza.

How the taxes are filed (e-file, paper, other) will determine how quickly the refund is issued, but in most cases, it’s between six days on the early side and up to six weeks on the long end.

Knowing this, we now know why so many companies are running tax refund events and promotions. Americans have a fist full of money and many of them want to spend it.

To increase your chances of getting your fair share, there are some key elements to consider when preparing and planning a successful tax refund sales event. Tip #1 is to have a theme that ties in the tax refund element. As corny as it may sound, telling and specifically asking for part or all of their refund is the best way to increase your chances of getting it!

If you would like to see all 14 Tips to a More Successful Tax Refund Sales Event, click here.

This weeks article was part of my weekly Sound ADvice email that you subscribers received a couple weeks ago. Fill out the form below and I’ll add you to the Sound ADvice mailing list for our next Wednesday morning delivery.

And if you want more help on creating a timely promotion for your business, contact me.

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Holiday Shopping in 2019

by Scott Howard | Nov 18, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Busiest Shopping Days of Christmas – Are You Ready?

For the first time ever, spending on Christmas is expected to exceed $1 trillion dollars, and the majority of this will be spent in 6 fewer days than last year.

If you own a retail store, you have heard all the doom and gloom about people spending their money via online or e-commerce. The truth is, it’s growing, but e-commerce still only makes up 12.3% of holiday spending. The other 87.7%, or $877,000,000,000 (that’s $877 billion), will be spent in “Brick N’ Mortar” stores.

Businesses that are well planned and run well-executed events and promotions can help garner more than your fair share of the holiday shopping pie. Knowing when the shoppers are ready to shop and being ready for them is paramount to getting that fair share.

Stores that plan in-store special events and then promote them will see greater store traffic and greater sales than those that simply sit back and “hope” people stop in. Getting them into the store at key buying times can and will make all the difference.

Are you ready?

According to Forbes magazine, here are the 10 busiest shopping days anticipated for 2019, in order:

November 29, Black Friday
December 21, the last Saturday before Christmas
December 26, the day after Christmas
December 14, two Saturdays before Christmas
November 30, the Saturday after Black Friday
December 22, the last Sunday before Christmas
December 23, the Monday before Christmas
December 28, the Saturday after Christmas
December 27, the Friday after Christmas
December 7, the first Saturday in December

I work with a couple of retailers to help promote them during the holidays. One of them has a Holiday Open House this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to kick off the season before Christmas and they really do it up right with special events each day geared to their customers.

For another retailer I work with, we promote a 12 days of Christmas Savings the first dozen days of December.

Just because it is the end of the year holiday season, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should run a special promotion, it really depends on your business and if it is appropriate. If you would like help in planning any of your marketing and/or advertising events for this holiday season, it’s not too late. Contact me and I will gladly sit down with you and help come up with creative ideas to help you have a successful 2019 holiday shopping season.

This is also the time of year to get all your marketing planning started for 2020. That’s what I’ve been working on recently and I’ll help you too.

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3 Word of Mouth Tips for Retailers

by Scott Howard | Aug 28, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights

Today I’m wrapping up my week of articles from the ScLoHo 2008 archives with an email I received from GasPedal.com. I have no idea if the company that owns this domain is the same that owned it 7 years ago, so I’m just going to keep all the legal stuff in at the bottom.

Word of Mouth for Retailers

Three great ways to get people to talk about your stuff:

1> Give them something to walk away with
2> Use a multiplier
3> Don’t forget to ask

1> Give them something to walk away with

Put something in their hands that will start a conversation–something they’ll literally hand to the next person they see. Think about the matchbooks that every restaurant used to give away. Put your name and logo on something for your customers to take and pass along.

2> Use a multiplier

Make it easy for your customers to talk to more than one person about you. Instead of giving them one sample or coupon–give them five. If you give someone five samples, they’ll look for five people to give them to.

3> Don’t forget to ask

Sometimes all you need to do is ask nicely. Tell your staff to end each sale by saying “Thank you – don’t forget to tell a friend!” or “we’d appreciate a review!” Do the same in your emailed receipts. You’ve got a ton of happy customers who would love to support you–they just need to be reminded (and know that you appreciate it).

Contact GasPedal
312-932-9000
news@gaspedal.com
http://www.gaspedal.com/
333 W. North Avenue, #500, Chicago, IL 60610

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