Now that the holiday shopping season is underway, how might it take shape?
Retail industry analysts offered predictions to the online news site Retail Dive.
The highlights:
- Forget Black Friday as the starting point. Amazon’s Prime Days and retailers who offered competing bargains already launched the holiday season last week. Surveys show most holiday shoppers now begin buying before Halloween.
- In-store traffic could drop as shoppers concerned about COVID-19 will shop online.
- E-commerce is king this year. Its strong suits are safety and convenience.
- Retailers are redeploying more employees to fulfillment functions to handle BOPIS (buy online pickup in store) and curbside delivery orders.
- Delivery times for online orders could take longer as more online shoppers place new demands on the service.
