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For Your Small Business Michael Podolsky November 19, 2024

3 Holiday Shopping Trends to Improve Customer Experience

 

The holiday shopping season represents a pressure point where businesses commonly either fulfill expectations or flounder. Consumer expectations are at their peak for holiday shopping in 2024, and despite increasing economic constraints, many people still plan to shop this season. So how do you ensure your business gets a slice of the pie?

Preparing your customer service (CS) team for the holiday frenzy will make all the difference here, and the best way to do this is to be aware of current consumer trends and adjust your customer service strategy accordingly.

1. Understand shifts in consumer behavior

Our recent holiday shopping survey tells us that inflation is making a noticeable difference in shopping habits this year. The survey reveals that 74.1 percent of consumers share that inflation is impacting their holiday spending plans, hence more people are opting to wait for the sales or simply aim to purchase fewer gifts this season. The consumer decision-making process is therefore likely to have a greater focus on perceived value and budget alternatives.

With a prevalence of economic concerns in purchasing decisions, your customer service team must be attuned to this consumer need. Train your CS team to adapt to holiday shopping trends by helping customers find the most suitable products for their budget and be upfront about how they can save money with you. Inform them of any discounts or upcoming sales, and communicate any promotions clearly across all your social media channels.

2. Give your customer service team the back-up they need

A consistent attribute of holiday shopping is the surge not just in sales, but also customer inquiries that can easily overwhelm even the most well-organized CS team. Employing AI chatbots to address common questions, such as shipping times, returns, availability, etc., will take the heat off your human employees and simultaneously bring down waiting times for customers seeking assistance.

3. Work with personalized service strategies to retain customers

With holiday shopping statistics indicating that a significant chunk of shoppers will make their purchases early this year, it’s up to your brand to ensure repeat business by bringing the offers to them. Use existing customer data to guide them toward your offers that overlap with their past purchases. Also, make customers feel they are getting a unique opportunity through promotions that provide exclusive discounts to loyal, repeat customers.

Be prepared

The holiday rush is a serious stress test of a brand’s commerce infrastructure. Technical failures, short staffing, and even minor admin errors or typos in advertising material can be inflated from the status of mishap to a major disaster. Avert being caught with your pants down by planning contingencies for a multitude of scenarios that can result from the increase in demand. Even a few minutes of downtime could lose you thousands in sales.

It’s a critical time for business, so your brand’s fortunes this holiday shopping season should not be left to chance. Tune in to seasonal data on customer attitudes, adapt your strategy to accommodate them, engage your customers with an enthusiastic, empathetic, knowledgeable customer service team and you’ll be all set for success throughout holiday shopping 2024.

Small Business Saturday is on November 30, 2024. Are you prepared? Learn more here.

This article was written by Michael Podolsky from Inc. and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

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