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Parcel Pending Predicts Top 2019 Holiday Shopping Season Trends for Retailers

Online shopping will continue to dominate with an estimated 53 percent of all holiday shopping slated to take place digitally
IRVINE, CA—(October 15, 2019) – The 2019 holiday shopping season is fast-approaching! Parcel Pending, the leader of package delivery solutions, today announced their predictions for the top holiday shopping season trends that retailers should pay attention to this gift-giving season!
The 2018 holiday shopping season was one for the books with a five percent increase in consumer spending over 2017 and $850 billion in online and retail sales. In fact, online spending grew by 19.1 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 and contributed over 13 percent to total holiday sales. Adobe Analytics reports that shoppers spent $110.5 billion online in 2018. This year, Deloitte predicts that U.S. retail sales will surge up to 5 percent between November and January to $1.1 trillion in sales.
“What’s interesting about the 2019 holiday shopping season is the fact that many consumers have already jumpstarted their shopping – earlier than in years’ past – and it’s primarily being done on their mobile devices,” stated Cynthia Aadal, VP of Retail Strategy at Parcel Pending. “This year, I think we are going to see a significant boost in mobile shopping, which set a new record last year representing 33.1 percent of total retail revenue. With more consumers shopping online, retailers need to be poised and ready to deliver a phenomenal omnichannel experience and that is where our BOPIL retail solutions come into play.”
2019 Holiday Shopping Season Trend Predictions for Retailers:
• Tis’ the season to shop: Half of holiday shoppers have already planned out their shopping lists, which is up 30 percent compared to last year, according to the 2019 Consumer Holiday Shopping Report from OpenX and Harris Insights & Analytics. The report also states that consumers are expected to spend about 5 percent more this year (an average of $862 per person). Retailers can capitalize on this consumer eagerness to spend by providing a well-rounded omnichannel experience.
Online and mobile spending on the rise. Around 53 percent of holiday purchases will be done digitally with 20 percent of these purchases expected to take place on mobile devices (Harris Poll and OpenX). This should come as no surprise seeing as how more than half of holiday shoppers report spending more than three hours a day on their mobile devices (Harris Poll and OpenX). What’s more is that mobile shopping will also play a big role in the in-store shopping experience. In fact, consumers will use mobile devices to research products, locate stores and merchandise so retailers need to have a holistic omnichannel experience in place for the holiday season.
Watch out for porch pirates. While online shopping may have added to the convenience of shopping, it has also added to the phenomenon known as porch pirating. A study from insuranceQuotes claims that 25.9 million Americans have had a holiday package stolen from their front porch or doorstep—up from 23.5 million porch pirate thefts reported in 2015.
BOPIL to the rescue. Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store (BOPIS) spending increased 47 percent during the 2018 holiday shopping season compared to 2017 and this trend shows no sign of stopping. Additionally, holiday sales typically account for around 30 percent of a retailer’s annual revenue. With all this in mind, retailers need to leverage solutions like Parcel Pending’s Buy Online, Pick-Up in Locker™ (BOPIL) to help deliver a seamless customer experience. BOPIL enhances the customer experience by making it quick, easy and convenient for customers to retrieve their online orders. With BOPIL, consumers can be in-and-out out of the store within seconds compared to the outdated and time-consuming process of store associates having to find and release the online order. To that end, BOPIL helps to save valuable staff time, increase staff efficiencies and boost in-store customer engagement because retail staff have fewer distractions and remain more focused on in-store customer interaction.
Shoppers want a premium experience. PwC’s 2018 Holiday Outlook report stated that 75 percent of consumers expect an integrated experience across digital and physical locations. That is why it is important for retailers to look to new avenues, such as BOPIL, to improve their customer experience.
“It’s going to be another record-breaking holiday shopping season in terms of sales, which will be fueled by online and mobile shopping. Retailers can capitalize on consumer spending by arming themselves with our BOPIL retail locker solutions,” continued Aadal. “BOPIL helps retailers generate more revenue during the busy holiday shopping season by streamlining their BOPIS process. This helps to enhance their customer experience and improve retail staff efficiencies significantly. Bottom line, if you want to boost your revenue this holiday season then you need to invest in BOPIL.”
Parcel Pending is a leading provider of BOPIL retail solutions designed to simplify the BOPIS process. The way it works is simple. Once an online retail order is fulfilled – be it groceries, clothing, electronics, cosmetics and more – the items are placed into one of the Parcel Pending lockers located at the retail store. Customers are then instantly notified by text or email and provided with a unique code that they can type or scan at the locker kiosk. They can then quickly and easily pick up their order at their convenience by going to the retail store and simply entering their personal code into the locker.