How Retailers Can Use Technology to Win the 2024 Holiday Season
As retailers prepare to deliver value and convenience at every point of sale, they rely on technology to navigate the complexities of an omnichannel presence, streamline returns, offer flexible financing options, and ensure success during the holiday season.
ERP technologies can help retailers set the stage for a successful holiday season amid changing consumer behavior.
The current holiday season is expected to drive US retail sales up by 4.8% year-over-year, reaching $1.353 trillion, with e-commerce projected to grow nearly twice as fast. With five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than in the prior year, marketers should anticipate an extended and atypical retail calendar. October’s Amazon Prime Big Deal Days kicked off the season early, setting the stage for prolonged promotions and consistent engagement across digital and in-store channels—helping to ease financial pressure for consumers and boosting sales across a longer period.
Amid inflationary pressures, consumers are focusing on budget-friendly options and increasingly turning to social and video platforms for shopping inspiration. Channels like TikTok and Instagram are drawing more engagement, especially from younger shoppers seeking gift ideas. This year, the focus is all about meeting consumers where they are—online, budget-conscious, and looking for value. A focus on technology to manage the complexities of the omnichannel experience, peak shopping behavior, budget-friendly purchases, and handling enormous returns can help retailers win this holiday season.
Embrace omnichannel and mobile-centric strategies
With nearly half of consumers preferring a blend of online and in-store shopping, a seamless omnichannel experience is essential. Retailers should ensure that inventory and customer data are integrated across platforms, allowing for smooth transitions between shopping online and in physical stores. Additionally, with mobile sales driving over half of online purchases, retailers should focus on optimizing their websites and apps for a mobile experience to capture last-minute and on-the-go purchases. Integration platforms and middleware create an automated touchless workflow all the way from a customer order to warehouse shipping, rate shopping for the most optimal shipping carrier, and a shipment notification back to the customer. This automation can handle thousands of orders per day and can be optimized to handle holiday peak orders. Today’s POS systems also offer a BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup in Store) option or fulfill from a different store, creating an endless aisle for the customers to choose from without ever leaving their screens.
Examples of how retailers are optimizing operations with technology
Retailers can leverage automation to handle inventory and fulfillment more efficiently, a crucial advantage as online and mobile sales grow. Using data analytics, they can anticipate demand more accurately, avoid overstock or stockouts, and maintain better control of inventory. By integrating enterprise systems, retailers gain a unified view of inventory across sales channels—online, in-store, and warehouses. This visibility enables better decision-making.
Enterprise systems enable the creation of personalized dashboards tailored to individual roles, such as store managers, logistics staff, or marketers. These dashboards provide real-time insights into key metrics and alert employees to potential issues before they escalate- —a valuable asset during high-traffic holiday seasons. Additionally, advanced inventory tagging and tracking enable seamless product customization, simplifying ordering, invoicing, and inventory management while enhancing the customer experience.
Real-time insights also enable retailers to adapt quickly to fluctuating demand, ensuring popular items are well-stocked while minimizing excess inventory for slower-moving products. Tech-savvy retailers use AI-driven insights to manage increased holiday traffic, personalize customer interactions, and optimize marketing strategies.
Retail technology success stories
Explore these retail industry stories and learn how businesses have used technology to reimagine their operations:
To holistically enable efficient and consumer-friendly retail operations, it is important to pay attention to the way technologies are influencing the retail consumer experience. Most retail consumers are now leveraging AI to find the best deals, explore gifting options, reduce shopping time, and make faster, more informed decisions. Tools like Google AI offer actionable insights to help shoppers make smarter purchasing decisions, while Google Lens brings information to consumers’ fingertips—whether this means showcasing the best pricing or the perfect product choice. Retailers are utilizing AI-powered chatbots to provide seamless shopping assistance and resolve issues with orders efficiently.
Prepare for 2024’s record-setting returns with efficient solutions
The anticipated rise in holiday returns for 2024 is driven by early deal-seeking, widespread discounting, and a holiday shopping season that now stretches from early October. This year, returns are expected to increase marginally, going up to 17%, placing higher demands on retailers’ operations and costs. Leveraging technology can help streamline returns management, with tools for real-time tracking and automated restocking processes, which allow for quicker inventory turnaround. Additionally, implementing selective return policies can help control handling costs, especially for lower-value items, while store credit incentives can encourage customer retention and reduce revenue losses. Return management tools like Happy Returns or Loop Returns can be used to make the process of returns easier for customers and make tracking and managing returns easier for retailers. Customers have all the information available online to easily create a return and choose the options of a replacement order, shipping options or access options of store credits or cash refunds.
Tech-backed retail trends: Engage consumers with social commerce and BNPL
Social commerce will play a central role, especially among younger demographics who use platforms like TikTok and Instagram for holiday shopping inspiration. Retailers can boost their engagement through shoppable posts and influencer partnerships. Additionally, the growing popularity of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options appeals to budget-conscious consumers, enabling retailers to drive sales by offering flexible payment options. The BNPL tools like Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna integrate well with the eCommerce platforms, but retailers need to avoid potential debt accumulation to avoid financial scenarios that are beyond their organization’s risk capacity.
By strategically investing in technology across these areas, retailers can improve operations, adapt to evolving consumer preferences, and manage returns efficiently, setting the stage for a successful holiday season amid economic complexities.
