‘Innovation is the name of the game’ when it comes to holiday shopping

Have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday changed forever?

Editor’s note: This article was provided to MediaNews Group by The Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia. It features a Q&A with Sheri Lambert, assistant professor of marketing at Fox School.

AAPHILADELPHIA » The holiday shopping season is upon us, but it might look a bit different from going to be there but doing different previous years. things. They’re going to be

With the world still in the running stuff to the curb, they’re midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, going to be posting to Instagram online shopping sales or they’re going to be doing have grown considerably, and home deliveries. That is where that trend is only expected to I think we will see tremendous continue. Research firm Deloitte growth. Home delivery is nothing expects online holiday sales to new; flower shops have been increase 25% to 35% for the 2020 doing it for years, but now you’ll season and reach $182-$196 billion see other businesses start to do for ecommerce sales in November, it as well. They will start relying December and January. on the husband or wife or college

Sheri Lambert, an assistant student that is working for them professor of marketing and supply to deliver items that are bought. chain management at Temple

Q University’s Fox School of Business, One of the best things about specializes in branding, shopping for the holidays is marketing strategy, retail marketing being able to browse a store with and consumer behavior. no set gift in mind or make an Lambert has been researching impulse buy. That’s a lot harder and following the retail and consumer to do online, right? trends leading up to this year’s holiday season. Ahhhh, browsing. Typically,

“More than anything else, the consumers plan shopping holiday shopping season will no trips with a mental budget in longer just be about a few days like mind. That is, a consumer decides Black Friday, Small Business Saturday beforehand on an amount and Cyber Monday,” Lambert they plan to spend before venturing said. “Those days are now to the mall, or a list of every day, so companies, both big items they are in search of — an and small, will have to adapt.” Instant Pot for mom, a scarf for

In this Q&A, Lambert discusses a cousin and so on. We all have how Black Friday, Cyber a list for shopping and we go to Monday and retailers’ sales tactics the store with our list. However, have changed in the pandemic when we are shopping or browsing and shares her thoughts on what in an actual store we tend to to expect as the holiday shopping get sidetracked and find something season moves into high gear. for ourselves. Grandma

may not need those ankle booties, Q We have seen drastic but I sure do. changes in all facets of our This year, there won’t be any of lives this year, and that now includes the ‘off the list’ impulse buys, or how we purchase gifts for last-minute runs to the mall on the holidays. Could Black Friday Christmas Eve. People will have be a thing of the past? to plan their purchases carefully

and they’ll have to plan ahead. A A ‘thing of the past?’ No, but They will want to do impulse it’s definitely different this buys but shopping online won’t year. More than anything, we’re be the same. They won’t necessarily seeing more and more companies find the item they want. Now, and retailers being creative this we are seeing a lot more social holiday season. Retailers are moving media ads that are popping up, online and using omnichannel so in that aspect, we’re going to more, meaning a combination of see impulse buying. The problem in-store and online shopping. Retailers is that the impulse buyer who relies are shifting and focusing on that to find that one really on how they’re going to be there unique, great gift will no longer for the consumer. We’re not going be able to do that. to fully say goodbye to in-store

Q shopping, but retailers are going It sounds like we will see to get more creative with their instore all kinds of changes this shopping experience. They year. Could any of these be here are going to limit the numbers of to stay? Even if there’s vaccine shoppers and they might even use widely available next year, could a lottery system. Walmart choose to not open on

Retailers are talking about being the night of Thanksgiving? innovative without creating an environment of mass hysteria like we’ve seen in the past. I think we’re also going to see more ways that retailers try to connect with customers like personal shoppers helping shop for you. We’ve seen this over the past six months with grocery stores. Q When we talk about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we think about big retailers, but they’re not the only ones who see a sales boost during the holidays. How will small businesses manage the season? A It’s a little bit of a harder pivot for them, just because they don’t have the big traffic that we associate with larger retailers. But I think that because they’re small, we will see that they’re nimble. They’re really going to lean heavily into their digital presence. The people working in small businesses are going to be used differently.

In the past, a small business might have three or four people ‘working the floor’ in a store, but now, those same four people are

I think what’s going to determine that is how successful these companies are and what their holiday sales and results look like. A lot of consumer behavior has changed from the simple fact that we’re finding out that we can do so much from home. The home has become our hub. It’s our workplace, our schooling place and because that has changed so much, our behavior as consumers has forever changed. If it’s fairly successful, I think the likes of Walmart may not open again on Thanksgiving. Why would they want folks to work overtime and then deal with so much wear and tear on the store and people fighting over items? Why would they want to do it if they’re revenue is still comparable? Creative out-of-the box thinking is the key for retailers. Innovation is the name of the game going forward. I would say that’s the case, both for large retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy and the small mom-and-pop shops. We’ve seen so much in terms of innovation already this year, and I think that’s a trend that will continue in the months and years to come.

Sherri Lambert