18 InsideOutdoor | SUMMER 2022 Inflationary pressures also could encourage hasty purchasing. With annualized prices rising every month on both wholesale and consumer goods, a gift for a loved one could be considerably cheaper to purchase and ship in September than in December. “In order to accommodate tighter wallets, consumers will be on the lookout for deals early and often,” said analysts at Retail Touchpoints. We can expect these early bird shoppers to be enticed by end-ofsummer and pre-Black Friday promotions, with a good chunk of their spending getting gobbled up by the heavy discounting that’s expected by big-box chains and department stores looking to clear out inventory before the holidays really heat up. Indeed, eMarketer researchers expect the “Cyber Five’s” (Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Sunday and Cyber Monday) share of holiday ecommerce sales will decline again in 2022, from 16.9 percent last year to 16.4 percent – well below the 2019 high-water mark of 20 percent. Equal but Opposite? Then on the other hand, inflation’s bite into discretionary spending and the higher costs of some goods could extend the time from search to sale, forcing shoppers to be more patient in their purchasing. If dollars are at a premium come holiday, it stands to reason that consumers will be taking more care to ensure those dollars are being spent wisely. The temptation to “find a better deal” or “wait for a discount” could be strong. The good news heading into the holidays comes via a recent Kearney Consumer Institute survey, which found that while 31 percent of consumers said inflation impacts them “very much” so far, consumers are focused on the price changes in categories such as groceries (88 percent) and gas (69 percent). By contrast, only 2 percent of consumers say they feel the biggest impact in popular gift categories such as toys, sporting goods and games. Even so, analysis by Quantum Metric suggests shoppers are increasingly doing their homework before buying. More often than not, they journey across multiple channels in order to make a single purchase and are taking more time to actively seek information that validates their decisions. The bigger the ticket of the item, the more the purchase decision is being scrutinized. For a plurality of respondents, patience is viewed as a virtue, as 46 percent say they now need more time to make a purchase. “For another 43 percent of consumers, it comes back to finding that lower price and waiting until they are offered some sort of discount code to make the purchase,” said Quantum Metric researchers. All told, 76 percent of consumers say they are starting their shopping earlier specifically so that they can identify items they want and wait for them to go on sale, while a quarter said they are most likely to wait to purchase general classroom items until the very last minute. In turn, shoppers are hungry for product and comparison information, data from Quantum Metric suggests, and they are willing to jump across channels and platforms to make sure they are getting the most for their money. A typical pathway to purchase nowadays could include discovery of an item on a mobile device that moves to a desktop for further research, followed by some price comparison back on the mobile and is completed instore or back on the desktop. Make no mistake, the shift toward YOY Conversion Rates by week: Nov - Feb Source: Quantum Metric NOV 7 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 NOV 14 NOV 21 NOV 28 DEC 5 DEC 12 DEC 19 DEC 26 Week of JAN 2 JAN 9 JAN 16 JAN 23 JAN 30 FEB 6 FEB 13 FEB 20 2020-21 2021-22 Conversion rate (%) TrafficVolumes by Device: Nov 2021 - Feb 2022 Source: Quantum Metric Mobile Desktop 0 200 400 600 NOV DEC JAN FEB 150% 50% Traffic volume (millions) Mobile Desktop Conversion Rates by Device: Nov 2021 - Feb 2022 Source: Quantum Metric 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 Conversion rate (%) NOV DEC JAN FEB Percent who reported the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase on fraud, crime and overall risk on their company Source: National Retail Federation “2021 Retail Security Survey” Overall Workplace violence Organized retail crime Shoplifting Employee theft Cargo theft Slight increase Significant increase YOY Conversion Rates by week: Nov - Feb Source: Quantum Metric NOV 7 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 NOV 14 NOV 21 NOV 28 DEC 5 DEC 12 DEC 19 DEC 26 Week of JAN 2 JAN 9 JAN 16 JAN 23 JAN 30 FEB 6 FEB 13 FEB 20 2020-21 2021-22 Conversion rate (%) TrafficVolumes by Device: Nov 2021 - Feb 2022 Source: Quantum Metric Mobile Desktop 0 200 400 600 NOV DEC JAN FEB 150% 50% Traffic volume (millions) 48.6% 20.8% 33.3% 34.7% 33.3% 33.3% 13.9% 69.4% Total 27.8% 61.1% 22.2% 56.9% 16.7% 50.0% 11.1% 44.4% 6.9% 20.8%
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