Top 5 ways to get ready for the 2017 holiday season

With summer already upon us, many people are taking beach trips or vacations, but as retailers, you are already looking forward to the holidays!

We have examined some key takeaways from the 2016 holiday season to come up with the top 5 ways to prepare for this year.

Looking back to look forward

The buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) model has become one of the best ways to stay competitive and provide the most convenient shopping options for your consumers—especially the last-minute shoppers.

BOPIS requires:

• Accurate inventory information

• Short pickup times (same day, within hours)

• Efficient in-store customer service

#1: Buy online, pickup in store

61% of stores offered BOPIS in 2016.1

1Lorenzetti, Laura. “Why ‘Buy Online, Pickup in Store’ isn’t working

for Retailers.” Fortune. 02 Nov 2015.

Whether your customers are shopping online or in-store, making the shopping experience as frictionless as possible is the ultimate aim. You can remove friction from each channel, and across channels:

#2: Frictionless shopping

Digital

• Include availability info on

webpages

• Minimize the number of

required keystrokes

• Use intuitive type-down

approach to collect customer

information

Brick-and-mortar

• Equip store associates

with clienteling tablets

• Efficient point-of-sale

system

• Use technology to speed

check-out

• Adequately staffed stores

Frictionless commerce

• Combine online and offline

channels

• Shop online while in-store

• Buy online pickup/return in store

• Develop an app that can be used

for Ecommerce purchases and

in-store rewards

#3: Extending Christmas Day delivery cutoff

Free shipping is now par for the course for the holiday season. Shoppers also want the opportunity to shop until the very last minute and still know there will be gifts under the tree. While the season encompasses several other holidays, there is a distinct emphasis placed on Christmas delivery.

Extending cutoff dates for Christmas delivery can help you defend your ground or even edge out competition. It’s particularly effective if you can use local stores as fulfillment centers to quickly get the goods into the hands of your consumers.2

2 “2016 Holiday Insights” Stella Service.

For the first time in 2016, online shopping surpassed in-store shopping over Black Friday weekend, the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.3 With Cyber Monday seeing similar trends in online growth—and particularly shopping on mobile phones—we anticipate that customers will continue to make more purchases from their smart phones.

#4: Mobilization

3 Wahba, Phil. “About 10 Million More Americans Shopped Online Than In Stores

Over Black Friday Weekend.” Fortune. 27 Nov 2016. 27 April 2017.

10M more Americans shopped online than in-store

#5: The customer knows best

This goes beyond the whole “customer is always

right” idea. Really listening to your consumers has

never been more important—and luckily, it’s

never been easier either.

• Read reviews & emails

• Listen to guests in your store and on customer

service calls

• Achieve a 360-degree view to understand your

customers

Remember, your shoppers can always vote with

their wallets. Listen to their feedback, act

accordingly, and consider how to provide them

with the best experience every time.

Did you know that data quality underpins each of the top 5 ways to prepare for this holiday season?

Download our tip sheet for more insights on how to make 2017 your best holiday season yet.

Gearing up for a successful 2017 holiday season

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