Even though it looks like Halloween in the neighborhood, it’s the perfect time to consider these trends and predictions for the 2022 holiday shopping season.

Prepare for Early Rush

While retailers may not experience the supply chain disruptions that troubled the 2021 holiday shopping season, this year they have inflation to contend with. Consumers and businesses alike are feeling the pinch and tightening their budgets.

Because of this, Salesforce research indicates 2022 holiday shopping will begin earlier this year — to the tune of 42% more shoppers worldwide getting a jumpstart and 37% more in the United States. The CRM giant predicts that people want to spend now before prices go up even higher. 

Tip: Don’t delay! Prepare your site for the rush that will likely begin well before Cyber Week hits. 

Early Demand Means Early Deals

Many shoppers’ budgets will be tapped out by the time December hits. To stand out, retailers will be offering deep discounts to secure their holiday customer spending. They are willing to forego their own inflation concerns to hopefully make up for it in sales. 

Tip: Don’t wait until late in the season to offer your best deals. Consumers with tight budgets will be hungry for the best deal earlier than last year! 

Price vs. Loyalty

This year, brand loyalty will be put to the test. Customers may be inclined to seek out the best-possible deal instead of going with brands they know and trust. 

Black Friday Predicted to Reign Supreme

The National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics conducted a September 2022 poll that found 45% of shoppers say they intend to head to the stores on Black Friday this year. Although Black Friday shopping has shifted over the past few years — with COVID concerns keeping more people shopping online from the comforts of home or on days when the stores are not overcrowded — some experts believe consumer in-store shopping will rise 2022. 

One reason for the shift is the rising cost of gas means people are heading to the shops less frequently, but spending more per outing. Heading out full force on Black Friday to soak in all those deals in one massive trip looks attractive to many consumers worried about their bottom line.

Retail data analytics provider Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls says Black Friday will be the biggest U.S. shopping day in 2022, no contest, with the Friday before Christmas coming in second. 

Sensormatic Solutions predicts the following for the top-10 busiest shopping days in the U.S. this year:

(Source: Sensormatic.com.)

(Click here to see the predictions for global markets.)

Brick and mortar tip: Make sure your Black Friday deals are bold to lock in sales on the day when you’ll have the most foot traffic. 

Buy Now, Pay Later

During this tough inflation season, shoppers welcome any solution that makes spending easier, and some retailers offer payment plans to ease the outright financial burden. Target, for example, offers Sezzle, a service that allows users to split the cost of an order into four payments across six weeks. The payments are interest free. 

Another service many retailers offer (including Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Nike, and Expedia) is Affirm, which allows shoppers to either “pay in 4” (submit four interest-free payments every two weeks) or choose monthly installments. 

Tip: See if integrating a BNPL solution is right for your company. This is a great list of 15 alternatives to Sezzle for consideration. 

Resale and Trade-in Programs

Today’s consumer is more concerned with sustainability than before, and stores like Lululemon and REI are on it with their trade-in and used gear programs. (I quickly found myself distracted on the Lululemon “Like New” marketplace while writing this article — what a great program I hope to take advantage of!)

BlackFriday.com is expecting more programs of this caliber to pop up this holiday season. 

Tip: While it might be too late to get something like this underway for 2022, pay attention to what others are doing this holiday season to get ideas for your business.

What’s on Your Wish List?

Here are some ideas to consider for your business as we head into the busy holiday season.

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