As Holiday Plans Remain Uncertain, How Can Brands Adjust to Meet New Consumer Preferences?

As Holiday Plans Remain Uncertain, How Can Brands Adjust to Meet New Consumer Preferences?

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Coming off a trillion-dollar 2019, the coronavirus threatens the typically reliable sales boon so important to company survival this time of year. But starting this Thanksgiving through the New Year, brands can still position themselves to take advantage of pandemic-prompted consumer trends.

Many brands have historically looked toward holiday season revenue to generate relatively outsized slices of year-round profit margin pies.

As recently as last year, this tradition continued to prove fruitful. 

Sales revenue accrued during the final few weeks of 2019 topped $1 trillion for the first time, which likely made for some terrific New Year’s Eve parties across the commerce industry.

Unfortunately, those celebrations gave way to 2020.

“There was consumer confidence at that time, which led to record sales for retailers,” said Joe Keenan, editor-in-chief of Total Retail, a retail trade publication, referring to last year. “It’s completely flipped on its head. The consumers are less willing to go stand in a crowded store to make a purchase. They’re going to do that online. And there’s a shift in the economic climate and consumer confidence.”

Keenan’s remarks were made during a recent Suzy webinar, State of the Consumer: 'Tis the Season for Uncertainty. Hosted by Suzy Founder and CEO Matt Britton, the conversation covered the results of a September Suzy survey of 1,000 consumers, and how brands can utilize those insights to generate a rewarding fourth quarter. 

Thanksgiving might begin the holiday season, but Britton noted it’s “less about holiday shopping” and more about “setting the tone for how consumers are behaving.” One expected behavioral change this year will be a lack of travel and social gatherings. 

According to the Suzy survey, 75% of young adults do not plan to travel during Thanksgiving, while 33% of 60-72 year olds said they “don’t know” what their plans will be. Britton noted that in past years, almost everyone who was planning to travel for Thanksgiving had already booked their trips by September.

Such projections might typically have meant an uptick in “Friendsgiving” celebrations, when non-family members gather together for the traditional mighty meal. But only 10% of Suzy survey respondents said they’d either host or attend a Friendsgiving.

This all sounds dire for some brands and industries — like commercial travel — but for others it could be a positive. 

“Obviously, it’s a story of two consumers, because you have one set of consumers in America that are dramatically struggling right now, and out of work and really struggling to make ends meet, but then there’s the other set of consumers that have been gainfully employed through this [pandemic],” Britton said. The latter group, he continued, “have an all-time high savings rate and entering the holiday season, where they aren’t going to be traveling over Thanksgiving, that could be a big driver of spending.”

People will still throw parties and welcome guests to join via video conferencing platforms. 29% of consumers surveyed told Suzy they plan to attend a virtual family event, something companies can take advantage of if they create brand experiences. 

“You see companies like Heineken trying to differentiate with their packaging,” Britton said, citing the brand’s release of their festively patterned bottles, of which no two are the same. “This is a brand experience really replicating the on-premise, physical experience consumers will not be getting.”

In these emotionally challenging times, “People are expecting brands to step it up and make their Thanksgiving special,” Britton said. Consumers told Suzy that they’re looking most to Amazon and Walmart for more “giving back” and shows of social responsibility.

Even if consumers don’t flock to stores this holiday season, at least they’ve had time to get used to online shopping, which has boomed this year. But “it’s all about the experience,” Keenan said.

Using the brand Nike as one hypothetical example, he observed, “If you go to Nike.com, you get the running sneakers you want, and it’s at your door the next day and you’re happy with them, you’re more likely to go back to that site and shop again.”

For those companies still leasing brick-and-mortar locations, they can still be leveraged. Keenan and Britton noted that consumers have responded positively to BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup In Store) offerings, which can not only help a company thrive, but also keep some in-store staff employed.

All in all, in spite of the pervading uncertainty throughout commerce this holiday season, there are reasons for optimism. Brands can survive, even thrive, in these conditions. It just may take some creative maneuvering.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it will play out in 2020,” Keenan said of prospective holiday season sales. “It sure will,” Britton responded. “It sure will.”

For more information and insights into holiday season revenue opportunities, watch the entire webinar at Suzy.com.