Digital marketing agency NetElixir has released its 13th annual holiday ecommerce sales predictions with an accompanying Holiday ECommerce Sales Calendar to help retailers and brands plan their digital campaigns around key shopping moments. The common theme throughout the data suggests that retailers and brands need to plan for earlier-than-normal shopping surges and be prepared to tackle an uncertain holiday season.
The company forecasts aggregate ecommerce sales to experience a 30% YOY increase in November to December 2020, with total online sales in the November to December period likely to exceed 20% of total retail sales in the U.S. Retailers will also start activities early, with the company predicting that some will run their most attractive holiday promotions the week of November 15 to encourage early shopping behavior.
“Next week will set the pace for the entire holiday shopping season,” says Udayan Bose, Founder and CEO at NetElixir. “With COVID-19 causing surges in online shopping behavior, retailers are up against two key obstacles: shipping restrictions and product availability. The most successful retailers are going to be the ones who plan ahead, start early, and work quickly to keep up with demand.”
Other key insights for retail ecommerce marketers include:
- Weeks of November 22 and November 29: will account for the two biggest online shopping weeks of 2020;
- Week of December 6: most retailers will set a cut-off date for guaranteed holiday shipping (delivery by 12/24);
- Week of December 13: BOPIS commerce will surge and most retailers will lower their digital marketing spend;
- Week of December 20: while usually a busy week for last-minute deals and buys, it is forecasted to be the quietest week of the 2020 holiday shopping season.
