A holiday shopping season like no other

Sep 17, 2020
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Written by wpengine
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Inside Washington Retail

How does one fully prepare in these unpredictable times? That is the question on the minds of many retailers as they prepare to enter a holiday shopping season like no other.

For these past months the pandemic has put pressure on retailers to try to figure out new ways of operating safely, retaining and retraining their employees and making sure their customers continue to have a seamless and fulfilling experience with their stores.

According to a recent guide published by Oracle Netsuite there are 4 keys to success to help retailers better prepare for an unprecedented season ahead:

  1. Optimize Ecommerce and Cross-Channel Experiences: With physical stores being forced to shutter, retailers will have to use more online and ecommerce platforms to better connect with their customer base. It will be important to ensure that those platforms clearly instruct and make it easy for customers to use features such as BOPIS (Buy Online Pick Up In Store), BORIS (Buy Online Return In Store) or Curbside Pickup.
  2. Logistics Preparations and Inventory Visibility: With supply chain disruptions and a holiday season that might make or break many retailers, inventory visibility is more important this year than ever. Some steps retailers can take to prepare include mitigating potential price increases with the FIFO (First-In-First-Out) stocking method, put a spotlight on accuracy and quality control, and treat shipping delays as potential customer retention opportunities by handling them efficiently.
  3. Warehouse and Fulfillment Considerations: Sales are only as good as fulfillment—ensuring items are in stock, fulfilled accurately so that the right product arrives to the customer quickly is paramount this holiday season.
  4. Email and SMS Marketing Strategies: A focus on marketing efforts will be critical this holiday season. To ensure messages are most effective consider including elements such as personalized product recommendations, suggested upsells or cross-sells, sister brand promotions, loyalty program promotions and callouts to subscribe to your email or SMS marketing program.

Retailers have had to quickly adapt and evolve in these challenging times but with the right preparations they can position themselves to have a very impactful holiday season.