Convenience is the best gift of all

For the past five years, PwC has asked consumers ahead of the holiday season about their shopping plans. We’ve asked questions such as:

·      Do you plan to shop online or in stores?

·      Do you prefer digital advertising or analog?

·      Do you look for gift ideas on your phone or at the mall?

And a whole lot more. Much has changed in those five years. Especially the mix of online and in-store shopping. For the first time this year, more consumers will shop online during the holidays: 54% (versus 46% in stores).

What works best when it comes to gift ideas? Sure, you can get in your car and head off to the mall. But why do that when you can stay home and check your phone? More than 50% of all consumers start their shopping journey online. At Amazon, to be precise. For ideas, price checks and product reviews, Amazon continues to hold sway.

But not as much as it did two years ago. An interesting development we’ve observed is the leveling off of the Amazon effect. While it still serves as the go-to online destination, it doesn’t shut out other retailers in the way consumers told us it did two years ago.

Omni-channel convenience

For holiday shoppers, it’s all about convenience. More than two-thirds of shoppers told us they want easily accessible, convenient shopping above all else. For retailers, that means creating omnichannel experiences — allowing shoppers to buy, pay for, and pick up their items using whatever combination of digital and physical channels they prefer.

A suburban parent with three young children might want the option to order online and pick up items curbside, especially during the holiday season when hosting a family gathering. The parent enables the store’s mobile app to track arrival; bags are ready and waiting to be loaded into the trunk of the SUV.

For a remote worker, it could mean home delivery because that person is home to sign for a package if necessary. And for a college student in a big city, it could mean pickup at a location other than the store itself, yet convenient because it’s on the way home from school.

Ultimately, what consumers want is overall control of their shopping trips. However, without the consolidation and integration of customer data, inventory, payment and logistics to respond to customer preferences, this level of convenience would be impossible.

In fact, digital enablement has spawned a range of subscription models for items as varied as apparel, pre-packed school lunches and shoes, personal grooming, pet food and more. Consumers can click once and forget about it after that. The boxes will keep arriving.

Mixing and matching

While home delivery is still the most popular shipment option, it’s starting to lose some ground to newer choices such as curbside pickup and personal shopping services. Meanwhile, the merging of online and in-store worlds continues apace with consumers increasingly mixing and matching what works best for them.

What works best this holiday might well be a break from all things digital. Some consumers want to enjoy the down time of a digital detox. They look forward to taking a break from their digital devices and chill out while enjoying time with family and friends. A break from everything except for digital entertainment.

Consumers do plan to stream music, movies and TV; participate in online multiplayer games; and watch social videos. These busy, mostly urban-dwelling pet owners started shopping early both online and in stores. So they’ll likely have time to lean back and relax this holiday.