omnichannel holiday2021 ecommerce holiday trends and
TRANSCRIPT
Have Yourself a Very Omnichannel Holiday
2021 eCommerce Holiday Trends and Insights
01
02
03
Preparing Your Strategy
Shopping Trends & Projections
Best Practices & Next Steps
2021 Holiday Guide
04
Holiday Overview
Source: eMarketer. How retailers can start planning for the 2021 holiday season. Feb. 2021
2021 will be a record year for holiday & eCommerce sales
US holiday retail sales forecasted to rise 2.7% to $1.1 Trillion
Holiday Overview
eCommerce is projected to account for a record 18.9% of total sales
Social commerce discovery and omnichannel fulfillment will be key drivers of this growth
Brands must prepare for shifting plans and rising costs
Faster than anticipated reflation of raw materials and fuel costs, and increasing labor cost at 2.6% YoY
Holiday Overview
Costs of social media ads increased over 30% since last year with retail media cost increasing as well
61% of Americans ready for pre-pandemic style celebrations despite uncertainty due to the pandemic
Source: Reuters. Oil up $1.50/bbl as demand recovery seen tightening supply. July 2021Source: Reuters. U.S. labor costs accelerate in the first quarter. April 2021Source: Bloomberg. The Price of the Stuff That Makes Everything Is Surging. May 2021
Source: AdAge. Social Media Ad Costs Are Rising As Consumer Confidence Returns. April 2021Source: The Drum. Who’s really driving the increase in retail media? April 2021
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Consumer drivencommerce can help win the holidays and beyond
Optimize campaigns via real time consumer insights, validating performance against category benchmarks and sales made
Holiday Overview
Forecast demand with accuracy, particularly with retailer and geolocational data
Gather first-party data and leverage third-party measurement tools in preparation for a cookieless future
“Consumers want what they want, when they want it, and how
they want it. We absolutely now have strategies that are
integrated from a full funnel standpoint and we restructured so
that our structure reflects those strategies.”
Preparing Your Strategy
Charlene ZappaSVP of Integrated Consumer Experience &
Growth, The J.M. Smucker Company
Understanding Your Omnichannel Storefront
Which channels drive the
highest traffic and
purchase intent? Compare
your results against
category benchmarks and
make in flight adjustments.
What consumer
preferences are driving
conversion and which
retailers do they prefer?
Look at geolocational data
to forecast demand.
Price, fulfillment, timing —
what factors are important
to purchase consideration?
Test, learn, and put the
important information first
in your ads.
What’s the average basket
size and what’s the value?
Look at what’s driving
bigger baskets and
identify potential partners
through product
adjacencies.
From social channel to
messaging, what’s actually
driving sales? Take your
learnings to validate and
optimize your strategy and
allocations.
Your customers not only buy your products, they also buy the shopping and fulfillment experience.
Integrate Insights into ActionsFulfillmentPurchaseYour Digital Channels Your Store and
Website
Holiday shopping starts November 1st
This year’s holiday shopping will look different from years before, combining the higher
consumer confidence of 2019, accelerated eCommerce adoption of 2020, and the
omnichannel shopping behavior from 2021 retailer deal days. Let’s explore.
All data and insights from the MikMak Holiday Guide are sourced from theMikMak Shopping Index
The Shopping Index is a collection of key
eCommerce KPIs collected across hundreds of
brands, thousands of retailers, and all major media
platforms to understand consumer online shopping
behavior, provide insights into current and
developing category trends, and forecast demand
and behavior in the online marketplace.
Prepare your omnichannel strategy for a new kind of holiday
Preparing Your Strategy
Shopping Trends & Projections
“eCommerce data is like trendspotting, and can be combined with
social listening and other information your customers might be
feeding back to you from the physical store environment. It takes
all of those things working together, and organizing [them…], to
put together.”
Doug StratonChief Digital Officer,
The Hershey Company
Forecast demand by geolocationAmazon, Walmart, and Target remain significant retailer carts, but regional and
category specific retailers have also emerged as significant players.
Shopping Trends and Projections Here are trends that will impact holiday shopping:
● 39% of all shopping traffic come from
the South, particularly in large cities
such as Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta
● 51% of all shoppers choose to check
out at Amazon, Target, or Walmart --
all three comparable in their ability to
drive traffic and purchase intent
● 4 out of the top 10 preferred retailer
carts will be category specific,
continuing the importance of a
diversity of retailers at check out
Check your campaigns twice.With unpredictability in consumer behavior forecasted for the
2021 holiday season, keep your eyes on the dashboard as you
drive your campaigns and make those real time adjustments:
Shopping Trends and Projections
Check your strategy using up funnel attribution
to confirm that your optimization is driving sales.
Compare your performance against category benchmarks to make sure that you are growing and protecting market share.
01
02
Drive a bigger holiday shopping basketAs the cost of fulfillment increases due to rising labor costs, fuel costs, and even packaging costs, brands may be looking to protect margins by driving larger shopping baskets and promoting omnichannel fulfillment options such as Buy Online Pick-Up In Store (BOPIS) and click and collect.
The MikMak Shopping Index predicts further increase of items purchased in the holiday basket in 2021.
Consumers have become comfortable with eCommerce as a way to shop, and are encouraged to check out with more products in cart, a positive trend for brands this holiday season.
5.66# of items
purchased in basket(H2 2020 average)
7.40# of items
purchased in basket(H1 2021 average)
Shopping Trends and Projections
This year, shoppers are purchasing 31% more items at checkout
You don’t have to win by yourself Product adjacencies can be found in the most unexpected of places.
Our Shopping Index sources these findings from MikMak Sales Insights,
where you can see basket level data, and discover what else is being added to
cart with your product.
Once you find your product adjacencies, you can:
Shopping Trends and Projections
Here are some product adjacencies that may impact your brand this year:
● Pet foods as popular additions to home
care products
● Beauty and personal care products are
added to cart in grocery baskets
Attract purchases from consumers you
would not traditionally be targeting by
looking outside of your product’s swimlane
Figure out who you should partner up with,
and win together by running campaigns for
the common consumer who wants to buy
both of you at cart
01
02
Segment by channel and retailer preferenceWith social commerce maturing in 2020 and 2021, traffic and purchase intent have been
driven more evenly across different platforms. Deal days shopping insights this year
suggest that brands should be capturing demand pockets and taking advantage of trends
that are emerging on a channel and retailer specific level.
Shopping Trends and Projections
Shopping Traffic Purchase Intent
Dark Horse Alert! TikTok is now a major driver of both shopping traffic and purchase intent.
More social media platforms have become sources of online shopping over time
Gather first-party data to identify demand pocketsWith the cookieless future fast approaching and the rising cost of retail media, it’s
time to own your view of the consumer shopping journey. Consolidate your data in
one place for an apples-to-apples comparison of performance. Mix and match
types of data to gain insights on consumer behavior and identify demand pockets.
For example, look at where the most shopping traffic is coming from. Of these
shoppers, which retailer is most preferred?
This year’s winning Channel x Retailer mix is:
Once you have identified demand pockets for your brand or category, you can use it to inform how to allocate your media spend. You can also leverage geolocational data to get even more specific.
Here are some 2021 deal days insights we expect to see again this holiday season:
● West Coast shoppers are 2x more likely to check out when shopping on Amazon
● Shoppers researching products on brand.com are 2x more likely to check out from Walmart
Shopping Trends and Projections
x
Did you know?Social media platforms drove over 52% of all eCommerce traffic in 2021 (to date).
Where are consumers choosing to shop by category in 2021?
Personal Care
Grocery Beauty Alcohol
Toys &Electronics
HomeCare
20% of all shoppers prefer 24% of all shoppers prefer 22% of all shoppers prefer
28% of all shoppers prefer 30% of all shoppers prefer 30% of all shoppers prefer
“As a brand we have to see every occasion, that's
fundamentally the heart of our business. [We can see] the
holiday season globally in some of the data for eCommerce.
It picks up in October and it peaks on December the 25th.
Then there are different tactical events around the world.”
Best Practices & Next Steps
Stuart HeffernanGlobal Head of eCommerce,
Pernod Ricard
Let’s get insightfulFlexibility means identifying when consumers want to choose during their shopping journey, and making it available to them at these points.
Did you know that:
● 2 weeks before an eventis when purchase intent starts to peak. Be available
everywhere during this time.
● Having the right regional retailers
can be as important as having the top national retailers
available at check out.
● Omnichannel preferences
are more diverse close to event date, so allow shoppers
to transition easily between online and in store shopping.
Best Practices & Next Steps
Let’s get creative
● Clear product shot
● Communicate unique benefits to the consumer
● Demonstrate product usage relevant to the holidays
● Clearly state factors that influence purchase
consideration for your shoppers: ie. price, delivery
date, fulfillment options
● Allow omnichannel purchasing
Best Practices & Next Steps
Check Out on Target
Check Out on Walmart Grocery
Check Out on Amazon
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Your creative has 1.5 seconds to appeal to your consumers! This holiday, your ads should be presented product-first, within the context of specific events, and with factors that customers find important and relevant up front.
Do this for your creative by:
Let’s get strategic
Shorten the path-to-purchase from anywhere Collect first-party data to determine what choices your shoppers want to make when buying
your product, and when and where they want to make them in the shopping journey. Include
omnichannel fulfillment preferences.
Improve marketing effectivenessAre your media investments and strategies driving conversion and sales? Look at attribution
reporting in your dashboard to be sure. Make real time adjustments as necessary.
Protect and gain market share How are your campaigns performing against your competition? Look at your performance
against category benchmarks.
Strengthen retailer positioningConsumers have different shopping behavior and preferences depending on where they
prefer to check out. Understand how consumers engage with your product at each retailer,
and which purchasing factors matter there.
Best Practices & Next Steps
01 Gather first-party data and segment shoppers using consumer insights, looking at channel and retailer specific preferences
03 Forecast demand by location and anticipate inventory needs
02 Win together and drive bigger baskets at retailer cart
Happy Holidays!
Here’s your cheat sheet to prepare for the changing consumer and media landscape.
Ready to get hands on with holiday planning using
category specific benchmarks?
Contact [email protected] for our Category Benchmark and Insights report.