Ten years ago, the mad festive rush featured crowds of shoppers flocking to shopping centres on Christmas Eve.
While the crowds certainly still flock, Christmas shopping has become a little more sophisticated in the last decade.
Ross Bark, principle consultant of e-commerce at Salmat Digital, says Christmas shoppers are reflecting the online boom.
“Christmas shoppers’ instore behaviour has changed significantly in the last 10 years, with shoppers much more convenience focused,” he says.
“Consumers are increasingly using physical stores for research purposes before buying the same products online, either because of lower prices or for the convenience of home delivery.”
Bark says task-based shopping, where shoppers research and compile a strict Christmas list, is also a rising trend with Australians.
“Alternatively, shoppers want to buy the product quickly without having to wait in long queues and will use mobile devices to process payment.
“This occurs particularly during Christmas when [shopping] is more stressful.”
Daniel Salter, commercial director of Lasoo, says Australians can be broken into four different types of shoppers at Christmas time.
There’s the ‘browser’, who pours over catalogues and social media before purchase, and the ‘blended shopper’, who loves online, but still prefers to shop instore for special gifts.
The ‘search and go’ shopper knows what they wants and just gets the job done, often by using e-commerce, as does the ‘safe shopper’, but they still prefer bricks and mortar.
Bringing convenient joy
Bark and Salter say successful Christmas retail should have a focus on both customer service and convenience, as seen with Dick Smith’s Move concept, General Pants, Myer, and (of course) Apple.
“Retailers such as Dick Smith and Big W are bridging the digital and physical shopping experience by offering click and collect,” says Salter.
He says this allows shoppers to experience the convenience of shopping from home, but gives them confidence that they will have their gifts in time for Christmas.
Bark says technology that makes shopping quicker and faster will win Christmas, such as Apple’s mobile point of sale systems and General Pant’s web kiosks.
“General Pants, which uses the hybrid platform, has recently launched web kiosks using iPads,” he says.
“This provides shoppers with the ability to search and explore products and fashion trends and purchase for delivery or buying in store.”
