Featuring:

Sucharita Kodali, VP, Principal Analyst and Emily Collins, VP, Research Director

Show Notes:

This will be no ordinary holiday season, coming on the heels of the presidential election in the US and amid a protracted “vibecession.” Retailers will need to be strategic to see the sales lift that they’re hoping for, say VP and Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali and VP and Research Director Emily Collins. On this week’s podcast episode, they dig into trends and advice from Forrester’s new report on how to make the most of the 2024 holiday season.

The episode starts with Kodali explaining the challenges that retailers face this year. Along with the election making it hard for brands to break through with messaging, a late Thanksgiving will compress the holiday shopping window. On top of that, consumers are feeling uncertain. “There are more consumers that say that they’re going to spend less this year than for the last several years,” she says, citing data from the report. “That means that the numbers overall are going to be pretty soft.”

Consumers will take a pragmatic approach to holiday shopping and seek out deals. Cyber Monday and the days after will be big for online sales, Kodali says. In-store shopping will then pick up — one-third of consumers say they plan to do more in-person shopping this year, according to Forrester survey data. Retailers can capitalize on this by running in-store promotions and continuing to offer in-store and curbside pickup, which remain popular with consumers.

The conversation then turns to loyalty programs. Brands will need to strike a balance between giving members what they want and protecting profit margins, Collins says. Some will offer early access or insider-only privileges rather than discounts. A few will take counterintuitive approaches that align with their brand ethos — think Patagonia’s “Buy Less, Demand More” campaign. “There’s an opportunity to use the marketing power of a loyalty program to meet your customers in the moment with something that’s a little bit more relevant or personalized to them [and] that drives more of that emotional connection versus just the discount,” she says.

The discussion then delves into retail media and commerce media as important channels for brands to extend their reach. The analysts discuss the opportunities and challenges in using retail media and some of the newer trends in that space, such as in-store retail media. The conversation then touches on the growing importance of social commerce and influencer marketing before closing with specific advice for retailers heading into the holiday season.