The holidays are here, and with them comes the holiday shopping season. If you’re a business, big or small, now is the time to pull out all the stops. We understand it has been a long year, but this is a chance to make up for any slump in sales, or maybe even break some personal sales records. To help hype you up for the incoming holiday, here are some incredible holiday sales statistics.

2020 Christmas retail sales are forecasted to reach $7.553 billion.

Q4 is the most lucrative period for retailers. Holiday retail sales have grown since the recession of 2008, and while the amount that Americans plan to spend on Christmas hasn’t grown this year, it still sits at $850 per consumer. That puts the average household gift expenditures around $2,142. The majority of that money (over $4.5 billion) will be spent online, with the most popular online shopping day being Cyber Monday. To get in on the majority of holiday spending, you need to have a functional and well-thought-out website. Speaking of having a good website…

41% of millennials say they research online before they visit a store.

We’re living in the Information Age, and whereas their grandparents may have operated by trial-and-error, window shopping, and test-driving, millennials are starting their shopper’s journey on the World Wide Web. This makes creating and maintaining your website’s content crucial. Remember earlier how we said that the majority of shopping was conducted online? Well, 50% of millennials start shopping on Black Friday. That means you should have the necessary content up well before the week of Thanksgiving to take advantage of that research window. If you weren’t ready for that period, there’s still a chance to capitalize on the holiday season. More than half of all holiday shoppers still have some shopping to do after December 1st. 

If you have a physical location, be ready to offer multiple channels to buyers.

Last year, 69% of people did their research online, but bought in-store; 57% did their research in-store and bought online, and 45% of shoppers ordered online for in-store pickup. Of course, it would only make sense that the wider the net you cast, the more people you’re likely to pull in. Another thing to think about is how your website translates to devices. When it comes to e-commerce, 34.5% of shoppers are on a mobile device, making up $64.29 billion of the $142.5 billion e-commerce sales in the United States. Much of the growth of e-commerce comes from smartphone usage. Smartphone traffic has grown by 14% for the past two years, accounting for 84% of the holiday e-commerce growth. Bottom line: to thrive in holiday sales, multichannel marketing is a must.

Offer free shipping and discounts.

Everyone likes to feel like they got something for free. It seems like everyone offers free shipping these days. In fact, an NRF study found that 75% of shoppers have come to expect free shipping. 85% of shoppers prioritize free shipping over fast shipping, and they’re willing to wait 3-7 days longer to avoid paying. Free shipping is the second most appreciated incentive behind price discounts.

Speaking of price discounts, 74% of shoppers preferred this method of incentive, and 39% were interested in BOGO offers. They expect to be wooed in this way. 81% of shoppers believe that they’ll be pulled to purchase via special promotions. Kickstart your holiday marketing with promotions—but remember that the one thing better than bringing in customers is keeping customers. 

We hope these statistics give you a few things to think about while you craft your winning holiday marketing strategy! Get motivated, and then get your holiday marketing game on.