With just three months left in 2022 and the festive season fast approaching, Salesforce has bad news for consumers and retailers the world over.
That news is that, according to Salesforce, prices are expected to increase over the festive season driven by pressure on the global supply chain. Manufacturing capacity, logistics costs and labour shortages all contribute to this pressure and in the US, the cost of goods is expected to climb an addition $223 billion.
Globally, Salesforce predicts that consumers around the world will see a 20 percent rise in prices. This will lead to an increase in credit usage by consumers especially online where Salesforce foresees that 8 percent of online orders will make use of credit, a 4 percentage point increase from 2020.
What we find interesting is that brick-and-mortar locations may prove more valuable to the ecommerce experience than anticipated.
“More than six in ten global online orders are predicted to be influenced by brick-and-mortar locations — either by helping to place an online order or by fulfilling it via curbside pickup options. At the same time that labour shortages are wreaking havoc in the lead up to the holidays, it’s becoming more critical than ever for store associates to meet rising consumer expectations,” says Salesforce.
With that having been said, Salesforce also foresees product catalogues shrinking by 5 percent during the festive season. This shrinkage is brought about by the aforementioned supply chain issues. As such, shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are expected to grow by 3 percent globally as consumers try to get products before they are out of stock.
As for marketing, things are going to be interesting.
“Google and Apple are phasing out cookies and third-party ad tracking, which means you’ll need first-party data to find and engage customers. We’re talking loyalty programs, organic social and influencer engagement, and personalised email marketing. Then you can use that data to create personalized experiences shoppers love,” says Salesforce.
Because of the crackdown on cookies, Salesforce predicts there will be a 30 percent increase in traffic from social referrals so expect to see a lot more advertising on your favourite social networks.
The next three months will prove interesting from a retail and ecommerce perspective and for once, it might be worth paying attention to Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
