Smarter Shopping and Engaging Experiences: Square and Afterpay Reveal a Bright Holiday Season Ahead
03 Ottobre 2023 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
This year's annual Festive Forecast indicates
strong consumer desire to strategically spend on gifts and industry
optimism despite looming effects of the economy
After a year of uncertainty driven by inflation and recession
concerns, new research from Square and Afterpay indicates positive
consumer confidence heading into the holiday season, with 34% of
consumers planning to spend more. To capitalize on this optimistic
consumer outlook, 71% of sellers expect sales to increase this
festive season as they lean into new commerce plays to meet
consumers where they are shopping.
While consumers intend to shop more this season, saving remains
a priority. The Square and Afterpay Festive Forecast reports 71% of
Americans will shop for cheaper alternatives as they look for deals
to maximize their savings, which aligns with most businesses’ plans
to offer an average discount of 15%. To engage with consumers,
merchants are leveraging various omnichannel tactics such as
hosting a curated holiday event (51%) and offering special deals
through loyalty programs (39%).
Since money management is top of mind for consumers,
consideration of credit card use for gifting purposes is decreasing
while ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) preference increases. As
consumers seek more flexible options at checkout, 40% of Americans
will choose BNPL to help them budget and manage their money during
the holidays. Shoppers cite benefits of leveraging BNPL for its
fast and easy checkout process (34%) as well as being a safe and
secure way to pay (29%).
Key Festive Forecast highlights include:
- Giving season: The most popular gifting categories are
apparel and gift cards, followed by electronics and gadgets.
Technology gifts have increased by 5% year-over-year.
- Early birds get the worm: The bulk of Americans plan to
have all of their holiday shopping done in November; a 5%
year-over-year increase.
- Omni-present: Consumers are fairly split between
in-person and online channels when looking for the perfect gift,
indicating a balanced omnichannel approach is crucial to meeting
shopper needs and wants this season.
- Smart assistant: Currently, 23% of sellers are planning
to leverage AI to streamline operations and marketing.
- Mobile all the way: Popularity of new emerging channels
such as shopping apps (31%) and wish list sites (22%) validate the
need for businesses to nail down their mobile commerce strategy by
leveraging automated technology and having a strong content
strategy in place.
- Discounts stay steady: 72% of sellers are confident in
their discounting strategy and have no plans to increase or
decrease sales compared to last year.
“Neuroscientific studies reveal that ‘feel good’ chemicals such
as oxytocin and endorphins are released when we enter the
celebratory spirit. Consumers want to experience this earlier each
year and are combining this desire for enjoyment with a savvier
mindset; shopping with intention for themselves and their loved
ones, and gifting items that can stand the test of time. With this
quality over quantity mindset, consumers can shop more mindfully
from brands aligned with their values, creating a more enjoyable
and less stressful shopping experience for themselves,” said
Shakaila Forbes-Bell, Afterpay Fashion Psychologist.
With these findings in mind, Square and Afterpay offer key ways
businesses can prepare for the holiday season:
- Implement AI-enabled conversational commerce tools such as
suggested replies in Square Messages to streamline customer service
and maximize staff output to focus on other critical tasks.
- Encourage shoppers to come into stores by offering unique
experiences or exclusive offers and merchandise, enabling your
business to expand its revenue streams.
- Consider shopping and wishlist apps, such as Afterpay, as new
channels to increase your brand discovery, promote products, and
reach new consumers.
For more holiday insights unwrapped, visit here.
Methodology
Consumer findings were based on a survey conducted of 1500 US
consumers between July 21 to July 31, 2023. The core sample data
was nationally representative across age, gender, and location with
an additional sample of 500 for Gen Z and Millennials. Industry
findings were based on a survey of 265 Square sellers in the US
conducted between August 8 and August 19, 2023.
About Square
Square makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible
with its integrated ecosystem of solutions. Square offers
purpose-built software to run complex restaurant, retail, and
professional services operations, versatile e-commerce tools,
embedded financial services and banking products, buy now, pay
later functionality through Afterpay, staff management and payroll
capabilities, and much more – all of which work together to save
sellers time and effort. Millions of sellers across the globe trust
Square to power their business and help them thrive in the economy.
For more information, visit www.squareup.com.
About Afterpay
Afterpay is transforming the way we pay by allowing anyone to
buy products immediately and pay over time - enabling simple,
transparent and responsible spending. We are on a mission to power
an economy in which everyone wins.
Afterpay is offered by thousands of the world’s favorite
retailers and used by millions of active global customers. Afterpay
is currently available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the
United States and the United Kingdom, where it is known as
Clearpay. Afterpay is a wholly owned subsidiary of Block, Inc.
(NYSE: SQ).
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