BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS….AND ECOMMERCE SHOPPING

To gear up for what is expected to be a very high e-commerce driven holiday shopping period, UPS says it will hire 95,000 seasonal workers this year, and FedEx Corp will hire close to 150,000. Overall retail hiring is expected to be the same as last year’s high numbers, but a shift to preparing for high online sales with those jobs is clear. Target Corp announced plans to hire 70,000 workers at distribution and fulfillment centers, up 15% from last year.

eMarketer announced survey results that found while moderate growth of 3.3% is expected for holiday retail overall, ecommerce is anticipated to make its biggest jump since 2011, up 17.2%. 71% of shoppers polled said they would make some to all of their gift purchases online. Rubicon Project found similar results in their survey, finding 73% of respondents will shop online, and that 22% of shoppers plan to do all of their holiday shopping online. The report shows that online shoppers will spend 64% on gift cards, 57% on apparel and accessories, 46% on toys and 37% on technology.

Cyber Monday is on track to produce higher results than Black Friday. A shift in the holiday calendar this year is also expected to help retailers. Christmas falls on a Sunday rather than a Friday like last year, giving last minute shoppers an extra Saturday to shop. Hanukkah begins 18 days later than in 2015, which should help generate sales in the latter part of December.

Source: NRF Smartbrief, Chain Store Age, Drug Store News, Fortune

Current US spending increased slightly in october but still sits well below 12 month average; retail sepnding in october the lowest since august 2014

The Consumer Spending Report (CSR) released in November indicates that consumer spending in October increased slightly by .9 points to close to 103 points, but still sits below the current twelve month average of 105.6. The overwhelming majority of consumers rated the economy as fair or poor, continuing this trend from September.

Retail spending decreased in October to 99.4 points. This continues a five month steady decline. Consumers indicated adults are spending less in every retail category: 40.5% spending less on household expenses, 39% spending less on home improvements and 32.8% spending less on clothing/footwear/accessories.

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming, 60% of consumers will shop in a retail store, while also using mobile devices and personal computers as part of their sales research and shipping products. In November, consumers indicated they will spend about the same or less than in October, regardless of the upcoming holiday shopping.

Source: Consumer Spending Report

2015 Holiday Spending by Consumers expected to change drastically for retailers - Black Friday is Out, Store Pick up is in

Deloitte’s 30^th annual holiday consumer spending survey of over 4,000 US consumers identify major changes to some shopping traditions. Key findings include:

• Shoppers are expected to spend $1,440 this holiday season, across gift purchases, socializing, non-gift clothing, and home/holiday furnishings.
• Nearly 70% of consumers plan to “webroom” by looking at items online first and then going to a store to see the item before purchasing – up from 58% in 2014.
• 52% plan to “showroom”, going first to a store to look at an item and then searching online for the best price and then purchasing online.

In addition, 43% of shoppers expect to buy a product online and then pick up in store to save shipping costs and get the item faster. The good news for retailers is that those shoppers will probably purchase more items in the stores when they go to pick up what they ordered.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday? More than half of the consumers surveyed said they do not rely on Black Friday as much as they have before and 41% say the same for Cyber Monday, up 5% from last year.

"Many of the moments that matter this holiday season will occur before shoppers ever set foot in a store. Getting the early promotions and engagement right in the digital channels are core to winning the in-store purchase and the shoppers who tend to spend more,” says Deloitte Vice Chairman, Rod Sides.

Source: Chain Store Age

Cyber Monday 2013 Heaviest Online Spending Day in History

Retailers saw sales decrease the week ending December 7 of 1.6% versus Thanksgiving week. However, Cyber Monday sales of online shopping reached $1.7 billion, an increase of 18% over 2012. This is recorded as the “heaviest online spending day” by comScore. Cyber Monday was the second day this holiday season to exceed $1 billion – Black Friday reached $1.2 billion in sales.

For the week of December 1-7, sales were weak across the board in retail, with a notable exception of department stores such as Dillard’s, Macy’s and Kohl’s.

Consumers surveyed reported a lower number of buyers completing their holiday shopping, implying that the pace of shopping before the Christmas holiday will ramp up.

Cyber Monday sales this year fall into the December reporting period while it was in November in 2012. This should lift December sales results.