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Holiday sales predicted to increase

September 26, 2012 by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

Deloitte recently shared their forecast that holiday sales are expected to increase between 3.5 percent and 4 percent as the economy and the presidential election loom this fall. The modest increase is short of last year's growth rate of 5.9 percent. Additionally, Deloitte forecasts a 15 percent to 17 percent percent increase in non-store sales, which is primarily attributable to ecommerce.

The non-store sales experience is critical to driving consumers' successful purchases online as well as in-store. "Non-store sales continue to outpace overall growth, but increasingly influence consumers' experience with the retail store, from trip planning, to in-store product research, and post-purchase reviews and sharing," said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail & distribution sector leader in a recent article.

Consumers will be looking for retailers to "wow" them on all levels and also expect pricing transparency. Alison Paul refers to this as "omni-channel pricing strategies" and indicates that Deloitte anticipates retailers to finally align pricing across all channels — in-store, online, and mobile. This will be a boon to consumers — saving them time in their shopping research as well as saving them money.

About Annamaria Turano

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