Retailers Try New Sales Techniques As Holidays Loom

With less than 50 days left before Christmas Day, retailers are geared up and ready for a healthy holiday shopping season. Buoyed by a robust economy and low unemployment rates, retail sales are forecasted for gains of almost 4.8% as the season unfolds. Stores are vying to win the most shopping dollars with minimal costs and several retail trends are emerging with the main emphasis being to engage shoppers in-stores, online and on their mobile devices.

“Retailers are focused on seamlessly merging the customers’ online activities with their in-store experiences,” says Brandon Famous, Chairman, CBRE’s Global Retail Occupier Executive Committee. “This trend enables the shopper to buy their products online and then go into the store to pick them up.”

Buy online/ship to store, BOSS, allows the online customer to choose from a wider selection of merchandise which is stocked at the retailer’s warehouse waiting to be delivered to their nearest store. Major stores are anticipating that BOSS will not only decrease their delivery costs but potentially generate additional sales when the online purchaser comes into the store to pick up their merchandise.

“Retailers, for the most part, are trying to change the culture of the online experience so they can reduce their brick and mortar footprint and mostly provide merchandise that was ordered online while keeping its core products in the store,” Famous tells GlobeSt.com. “A reduced square footage is less rent to pay plus its expensive to carry everything in stock. Basically, retailers are trying to come up with ways to be more effective and efficient and merging the online and walk-in store experience is one of the best ways to cut costs and increase sales.”

Macy’s, for example, expanded its BOSS program to 50 stores in Q2 and planned to have it at almost every US store by the end of Q3 (Macy’s hasn’t reported Q3 results yet).

Kohl’s launched its BOSS program this past July. It was in 20 stores by August, and Kohl’s plans to have it in all US stores within the next few months. Kohl’s says it sees additional in-store purchases from 20-25% of shoppers coming in to retrieve online orders. Kohl’s also motivates their shoppers to pick up online orders in the store with $5 in Kohl’s Cash.

Brand loyalty and reward programs are another popular holiday trend. Whereas airlines are known for their frequent traveler points, retailers want to promote brand loyalty. Examples of experiential loyalty rewards includes Macy’s providing VIP access to NYC’s Fourth of July fireworks show, Sephora offering meetings with brand founders and trips to NY Fashion Week, and Nordstrom’s Nordy Club offering exclusive access to products and events.

“Loyalty and status points are a huge deal as customers like to feel as if they are getting exclusive deals,” says Famous.

Toys are a huge commodity this holiday season especially with Toys R Us filing for bankruptcy and closing their stores. With Toys R Us taking up 4.3% of the market share, retailers are scrambling to gain some of those dollars. Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Party City, Michaels, Ace Hardware, Barnes & Noble plus other retailers are expanding their toy departments while other stores are planning pop-up shops all in a bid to acquire some of that significant market share.

“These trends are not just for the holiday season,” says Famous. “They will contribute throughout the year and are simply amped up during the holidays. Online shopping interacting with brick and mortar is here to stay and will just continuously be refined as time goes on.”