WJR Business Beat with Jeff Sloan: Christmas in August (Episode 279)

Good morning, Paul! Today’s Business Beat presented by Digital Resource. Merry Christmas. That’s right. You heard me. Right. Okay. Well, most of us aren’t thinking about Christmas yet, given that it’s August, if you’re a merchant, whether brick and mortar or e-commerce, you need to start thinking about and preparing for the all-important holiday buying season, believe it or not already getting underway. And just released Shopkick data indicates that getting your head into that game early remains a key objective for merchants. Consumers are eager to get their holiday shopping done this year, and they are ready to spend, says Dave Fish, general manager of Shopkick. as retailers prepare for their biggest season, He says it will be imperative that they get an earlier start than ever to improve their omni-channel and e-commerce capabilities and to offer the best deals on the traditional days consumers have come to love. According to their report, 25% of American shoppers say they’ll do most holiday buying before Thanksgiving. And some actually start now, as far as the expected spend this coming holiday season, well, most consumers say they’ll spend roughly the same amount in 2021 as they spent in 2020. Other interesting findings in the report include the following: 61% plan to shop Black Friday, 67% planned to shop Cyber Monday, 78% of Black Friday shoppers say they’ll shop online, 36% plan to shop mobile, 43% of shoppers say they’ll make a majority of purchases in physical stores this year, and 57% say they’ll shop the most on Amazon. So there you have it, Paul, no time like the present to be thinking about holiday presents. Hard to do during the dog days of August, but if you’re a merchant, nonetheless, it’s time. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat, on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.