From the Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute.Tips | Tactics | Insights on the Business of Retailing.
You’ve heard about the robust sales numbers on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, right? Now ICSC – the International Council of Shopping Centers – has sponsored a research survey about Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday to delve into them a bit more.
And what they found sure surprised us. For example, who were the biggest fans of physical retail and shopping centers? Millennials. Yep, those "digital natives", folks ages 18 – 36 chose to make their purchases from physical retailers (or through websites operated by physical retailers) rather than shopping pure online retailers such as Amazon.
In fact, a whopping 76% of both the Millennials and Gen-Xers (ages 37 - 52) actually went to the stores, rather than buying from that store’s website.
Quite a contrast with the Baby Boomers, who seem to prefer the convenience of shopping online. Only 56% of Baby Boomers ventured into the actual physical stores.
"Click and Collect" generated add-on sales And shoppers using "click and collect" (or BOPIS – Buy Online, Pickup In Store) were highly likely to purchase additiional items once in store. The Baby Boomers had the most dramatic increase from last year: from 26% to 53%.
And here’s another counter-intuitive “fun fact” Which age group came out on top in terms of spending more this year than last?
Right again: Millennials.
Almost half – forty-three percent – of Millennials spent more over the two-day period this year than last year.
Only about a third (37%) of GenX-ers, and just 30% of Boomers spent more.
Ahh, but this finding may not surprise you.
The Millennials weren’t necessarily shopping for others.
Instead, they were purchasing “non-gift” merchandise rather than Holiday gifts.
Focused on taking advantage of promotions, perhaps? Or self-gifting?
All in all, good reminders that we should not simply assume that the digital-native Millennials are online-only, or that the Baby Boomers are internet-averse. — source: ICSC Industry Insights Study, "Millennials flock to stores, shopping centers", November 25, 2017, by ORC International on behalf of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
You've seen them, right? All the stories about how strong this year's Holiday sales are expected to be.
Meanwhile, the department stores – Kohl's, J.C.Penney, Macy's – keep reporting sales declines. And malls, seeing less foot traffic and fewer shoppers, are scrambling. So, where will those robust retail sales come from?
A new consumer confidence study based on monthly interviews with 9,000 respondents (versus the 500 or so polled in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment study) finds that the the key difference/predictor in people's attitude about the economy (and shopping!) is their political views. That's right. What seems to matter more today may not be whether you're in a mall or strip center. When it comes to location, apparently what really matters is, Red State or Blue State?
The National Retail Federation sponsored a survey in early May of retail small business owners across the country (those that meet the SBA definitions for employee size and revenue.) Contrary to the doom-and-gloom of the "Retail Armageddon" stories, this survey confirmed that retail owners are optimistic and looking to expand.
Few believe their business will be in worse shape in 12 months;
Nearly half expect revenues to increase;
Many have goals for expansion or implementation of new technologies.
Quick: Imagine an online shopper. Did you imagine a man or a woman?
Full disclosure: We thought that online shopping would be dominated by tech-savvy males. Didn't you?
Well, we thought wrong!
Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt, The Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute®, have been called "The Zen masters of retail finance!" Since 1999, they have been assembling their proprietary content into a unique self-help website. The Retail Owners Institute is an unmatched resource that assists retailers worldwide with basic financial training, assistance and easy-to-use tools. Their engaging and empowering how-to resources about the financial levers in retailing are informative, fun(!), and retailer-friendly. Their promise: "Everyone will 'get it'!" Pat and Dick are recognized experts in strategic retailing. Working only as a team – Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC – they have been consulting, publishing, and speaking professionally throughout North America since 1990. They focus exclusively on retail, or wherever retail is involved. They work with CEOs, CFOs, boards and owners of retail operations, as well as manufacturers or wholesalers expanding into retail. And they also are Retail Turnaround Experts.
Since 1999, empowering retailers and store owners to "Turn on your financial headlights!"