Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

It still comes down to price.    Despite more modern approaches, 89% of consumers said that deep discounts (including coupons) are the key determinant of what stores they will visit for holiday shopping this year, according to a survey of millennial and Generation Z consumers conducted by HRC Retail Advisory.    In addition to finding that sales and coupons are more influential than any other tactic in motivating consumers to enter stores this holiday season, the survey also revealed: 

In a new post on Target's A Bullseye View blog, Target CIO Mike McNamara explains the reasoning behind the retailer's decision to offer an extensive Cyber Monday promotion: 15% off site-wide and store-wide from Nov. 27 to Nov. 28.   McNamara says the retailer's move to combine stores and online for a more seamless holiday shopping experience marks a new chapter in Cyber Monday history.  

Watch out Amazon, Walmart may be giving you a run for the money in the holiday toy aisles.    

With the Black Friday weekend nearly here, there are clear winners when it comes to social media engagement.   At the head of the class is Sephora, with 2.4 million consumer interactions (reactions, comments, shares, retweets, favorites) across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sephora’s top status is being driven by its success on Instagram, a site that reveals high consumer enthusiasm for the retailer’s offerings of makeup box sets and key brands, such as Bite Beauty and Urban Decay, as well as its own collection.

In October of this year, Periscope By McKinsey conducted online research of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. to understand their attitudes towards Black Friday and expected shopping patterns.   

As Black Friday quickly approaches, it is anyone’s game on who will garner the most wallet share — clicks or bricks.    More than three-quarters (76%) of Americans plan to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and they plan to spend $400 between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, a slight uptick from last year's intentions to spend $369.  

Not everyone is feeling confident about retail sales.    U.S.-based importers and suppliers who sell goods to retailers are not entirely confident consumers are going to open their wallets, according to a new survey conducted by Capital Business Credit, a supply chain finance company.     

Forty percent of U.S. consumers plan to spend more this year than during the 2015 holiday shopping season, driven by better job prospects and an improving economy.     That’s one of the findings of the A.T. Kearney 2016 Holiday Shopping Survey, which was conducted online from Oct. 24 – Oct. 25, 2016.   

U.S. online holiday spending will reach $112 billion in 2016, growing 13% over 2015.    That is according to Forrester’s Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, which said that while online sales are 12% of annual retail sales, they jump to 16% of total holiday sales during the November and December months.