Winter Holidays

While a majority of shoppers are ready to shop online this holiday season, many will sit out Cyber Monday this year.   This detail was highlighted in “Computop 2016 Holiday Shopping Study.” Computop’s report, which is based on responses from over 1,900 consumers across the United States and UK, found that 76% planned to shop online this holiday season. However, 62% of those respondents don’t plan to shop on Cyber Monday, noting it doesn’t offer the deals it used to previously.  

Starbucks Corp. stirred up a controversy last year when people complained that its all-red holiday cups were too plain. It’s unlikely there will be any complaints this go around.        This year, for the first time ever, Starbucks has 13 different holiday cups, all of them red but each with its own distinct design. And in another twist, the designs were created by customers.  

Four of the nation’s largest retail chains remain committed to opening their doors on Thanksgiving.    Target Corp. announced it will open its stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and Best Buy said it plans to open at 5 p.m. Walmart will start its Black Friday event at 6 p.m. on Turkey Day (most Walmart locations are open 24 hours).   

Kohl’s Corp. reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit amid expense controls that helped make up for lower sales.   The chain reaffirmed its full-year profit forecast.   Kohl’s net income rose 21.7% to $146 million, or 83 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 29. Excluding items, Kohl's earned 80 cents per share.   Sales decreased 2.3% to $4.33 billion from $4.3 billion in the year-ago period. Same-store sales fell 1.7% during the quarter.

Chinese shoppers were so eager to participate in Singles Day that they purchased more in the first hour than the entire 24-hour event in 2013.   Specifically, more than $7 billion of gross merchandise volume (GMV) was settled through Alipay on Alibaba’s China and international retail marketplaces within the first two hours of the 2016 “11.11 Global Shopping Festival,” according to a company statement. The annual shopping event kicked off at 12 a.m. China Time, on Nov. 10.  

Eager to keep early omnichannel holiday shoppers from “shopping around, Zappos.com unveiled introduced its “price promise” program.   The program, which launched on Oct. 31 and runs through Nov. 20, uses software to automatically price match the site’s most popular products with those found on qualifying online competitors’ sites.   

eBay is the latest retailer to get into the holiday spirit with a campaign that transcends television, online and its mobile app.  

Steadily climbing consumer confidence and retail sales growth have U.S. retail chief marketing officers feeling optimistic ahead of this holiday season.