KEY POINTS
- Shoppers will visit fewer shops than ever this vacation season, a Deloitte study discovered, ratcheting up the pressure on merchants to capture consumers.
- Part of the factor for the drop-off is because security stays top of mind for customers, stated Deloitte’s, Rod Sides.
- The study discovered that 51% of individuals are distressed about going to stores this holiday due to the Covid pandemic.
A new survey anticipates consumers will visit fewer stores than ever this holiday, ratcheting up the pressure on sellers to capture clients.
Consumers are preparing to visit just 5.2 retailers usually, speaking with firm Deloitte found in its annual holiday study. That’s down from 7 in 2015, 6.9 in 2018, and 5.7 in 2017. It marks a record low for the survey, which surveyed 4,012 customers from Sept. 9 to Sept. 15.
Part of the reason for the drop-off is since safety remains leading of mind for consumers, stated Rod Sides, a vice chairman of retail and distribution at Deloitte. The study discovered that 51% of individuals are distressed about going to stores this vacation season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If I can go fewer locations and if I can inspect [more] things off my list … I believe that’s going to bode well for mass retailers,” Sides said in an interview. “We’re all utilized to going there, and we’re utilized to their security procedures,” he said about big-box chains, that sell a little bit of everything, like Walmart and Target.
Meantime, consumers are preparing to squeeze in their costs in less time. That’s despite the doorbuster-like deals that started last week with Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day and rival sales events. Although retailers want to lengthen the season, buyers hope to complete their vacation purchases in 5.9 weeks, Deloitte’s survey found. That’s 1 & frac12; weeks less than a year earlier and below 7.1 weeks in 2018.
Some shoppers are afraid of running out of cash if they begin investing too early, Sides stated. Or if they wait too long, they hesitate items won’t reach their doorsteps in time for Christmas.
Individuals strategy to take a trip simply 9.6 miles typically to buy gifts this season, Deloitte discovered. Sixty-nine percent of consumers would choose to go shopping close to the house when they’re venturing out to shops and malls.
A separate projection is calling for foot traffic in retailers to be down 22% to 25% year over year throughout the 6 essential weeks of the vacation season.