The extended season will lead to an eleven percent ($9.1 billion) increase in online sales to a total of $91.6 billion, according to Adobe’s 2016 Digital Insights Shopping Predictions report. Large retailers expected to account for the bulk of the growth, with an average growth rate of 16.6% compared to smaller retailers at 7%.
“We expect to see a five percent spike in online shopping in early November and a record 24 percent increase in the last two weeks of December,” said Mickey Mericle, the vice president of marketing and customer insights at Adobe.
“‘Click and collect,’ faster shipping and retail promotions starting earlier than ever are all contributing to the extended shopping season. Despite the uptick in sales we expect to see slower growth in total online sales this year,” he says.
Singapore shoppers
Closer to home, findings specific to the Singapore market show that consumer budgets are tight and the savvy shopper prefers online shopping due to the higher likelihood of finding good deals and bargains this way.
Marketers can also expect fewer last-minute shopping rushes as respondents are now shopping slightly earlier in November. This suggests that marketers should make the effort to reach out to these early birds accordingly.
Notably, consumers report visiting an average of 3-5 sites before making a purchase, which offers marketers a critical chance to target these potential customers once more and bringing them back on-site via remarketing
Almost half of Singaporean millennials (49%) surveyed value experiences more than material goods, with a sizeable 41% echoing this sentiment when all local consumers who are surveyed are factored into the picture.
Finally, the study shows that mobile shopping is king as consumers praise retailers for better optimizing their sites for mobile browsing, allowing them to shop on the go with their hectic schedules.
