experience matters

Considering the economic downturn, there’s no doubt that many people have cut their holiday budgets, shortened their gift recipient lists, and are spending less on each gift. However, according to Mintel’s Holiday Shopping Report (June 2010), spending during the holiday was the least impacted of all spending occasions. Forty-three percent of consumers said they planned to spend the same or more than they did last holiday season.

Regardless of their budget though, consumers told us that holiday shopping is stressful. Of course there are obvious reasons like crowded malls, outrageously chaotic traffic conditions and increased family obligations, but consumers face other speed bumps that companies can help with.

Last holiday season and throughout the year, Curious has been conducting a series of discussions with members of our ShopTalk online community to dig deeper into consumer holiday shopping habits and the reasons why they shop the way they do.

We found that consumers feel stressed during the holiday season because they are often uncertain of what to buy as a gift. Even if they do know what to buy, gift shopping isn’t always a linear experience. People consult others, read reviews, compare prices, and shop across channels. This makes the decision-making process even more elaborate and complex. To top it off there always seems to be more gifts to buy than the initial budget can accommodate.

Based on this, here are a few things to think about when planning your holiday digital strategy:

Ease doubts
Help people choose the right gift. “I want to be sure that I am giving them a gift they would use and be happy with. One friend uses a website called The Things I Want and she uses it for herself and kids which makes gifts for them much easier.” says Susan from Nevada. Provide advanced wish list features like consolidated wish lists, the ability to subscribe to friends’/family members’ lists, personalized notifications and gift suggestions. One good example is Amazon’s Facebook Connect shopping experience that recommends gifts based on friends’ profiles.

Help people connect
Help consumers communicate product details easily with friends and family who play a role in their decision-making. Gift shopping is rarely an isolated experience; Rebecca from GA is a classic example: “I can’t even imagine functioning without a cell phone nowadays. I called my mom, husband and sister for advice on presents.” Social shopping tools that allow consumers to ‘like’ or tweet about a product while shopping online are available in plenty, but tools that facilitate communication across channels go a long way. For example, the touch screen Tweet Mirror by Nedap Retail closes the gap between digital and retail by allowing shoppers to take snapshots of a dress they tried on while at the store and send it to friends via Twitter or e-mail.

Extend digital strategy beyond the digital space
A strong cross channel strategy becomes even more important because people access companies via multiple touch points (online, over the phone and in store, sometimes visiting each multiple times) as they navigate through their influencers. Remember your customer across channels and help them pick up where they left off. Make information across channels consistent and portable without any hassle to the customer. For instance, some companies allow online customers to email information to the nearest store and set up an appointment with a representative there.

Remember the budget
“With a large family it’s hard to get many gifts everyone likes because most of the ones everyone likes are way more than the budget allows,” says Dawn from Arizona and many others relate to this. People often have a budget in mind before they start shopping for a gift, so attract their attention with good deals, but to earn their business, don’t forget to back it up with value-added services. It’s common practice to search for the best deal via smartphones while on the go, after having found an item of interest. Help your customers get the best out of their budget by facilitating side-by-side price and value comparisons of similar products.

Making use of key shopping dates like Cyber Monday, Black Friday, Free Shipping Day, etc as well as offering mobile or email alerts for price drops on products of interest (e.g. Trip Advisor’s Air Watch Alerts), will also go a long way with your customers.

These are just a few of the many tactics you can employ both digitally and across channels to earn new and repeat business during the holidays. The key is to try and take the stress out of holiday shopping for your customers by helping customers put their mind at ease, connect conveniently, shop across channels and spend wisely.