We are just hardly days away from the start of the 2024 holiday season. And with it, comes the ever-growing shopping frenzy that has never been disappointing for retailers as every year has managed to successfully break the spending records of the past year. In recent years, e-commerce has successfully evolved into the number one destination for shoppers far outpacing physical store spending.  In 2024, Adobe estimates that the US holiday shopping season will see record spending of nearly USD 240.8 billion from November 1^st to December 31^st in just online sales.

For retailers, this is great news and a chance to add a good deal of profits to their books in just one month. However, the peak shopping frenzy witnessed during the holiday season is also one of the most demanding times for all digital channels that retailers use to support sales. The primary point would be their online storefront or e-commerce website that handles all traffic. In the background, every business system dealing with support functions like customer service, logistics, inventory management, procurement, etc. needs an extra refresh to manage the onset of traffic.

However, to strengthen their digital assets with some extra muscle for the holidays, retailers must be aware of the technology trends that help fulfill the expectations and experiences shoppers desire during such sale events. On that note, let us explore the top 4 trends that are likely to grab headlines this holiday shopping season:

AI-powered customer service

A sales cycle doesn’t begin and end with the sale of a product. The sale is today a journey where customers make the purchase after gaining insights into the product and how it impacts their lives after the purchase is made. In other words, customers see sales and service as an integral singular entity. They would need support on product information, technical details or specs, comparisons between different brands for the same product, and other insights before the purchase. After the sale is done, they will need service support for a range of activities like installation, demos, returns if any, defect troubleshooting and rectification, enhancements, and much more.

Given the scale of shopping expected over the 30 days, it will be nearly impossible for brands to accommodate enough human associates in their service or support division to help customers with their pre and post-purchase support requests. This is where AI-powered customer service options like bots or self-service portals can help. We are likely to witness a surge of automated interactions between customers and AI bots built by companies for almost all major support services. This will help provide continuous service in real-time with faster responses and lower costs.

Dynamic supply chain

From procurement of cargo from major ports to stocking them in fulfillment centers across regional or national hubs, there will be major activities and heavy lifting happening on the supply chain for retailers during the holiday season. The scale of activities will be so immense when compared to the rest of the year. In addition to sales, the supply chain will also need to account for returns, replacements, and other nuances in the delivery value chain for both customers and the retailer.

To handle the chaos, there will be massive bets placed on tech like AI, data analytics, etc. to streamline logistics without risks. Retailers will strive to offer maximum visibility into the activities of every department in their supply chain operations so that all stakeholders can plan for their respective action items well in advance. This will involve investments into tech such as AI-driven computer vision for fulfillment operations, faster route planning for quicker deliveries, etc.

Generative AI in campaigns

Streamlining business models to offer great deals is just one-half of a retailer’s strategy to draw more business during the holiday shopping season. The real action takes place in the other half which is marketing the offers to the right customers in the right flavour at the right time. The online sale season will witness massive levels of marketing content creation that includes textual copy, videos, images, and other collateral-aiding campaigns. Traditional methods of creating everything with human resources alone can be a very tiring and error-prone method given the scale expected.

This is where Generative AI can become a major game-changer this season. From creating texts for email campaigns to realistic promotional images and animations, a lot of interest will be placed on Generative AI tools and platforms this holiday season. Marketers can quickly acquire the necessary content assets through GenAI platforms and stay on top of campaigns in real-time to gather as many leads as possible.

Performance optimization

Today, almost every online store is hosted on a range of cloud environments depending on the needs and budgets available for the retailer. When the traffic surge occurs during the holiday season, their cloud deployments must be strengthened to meet the demand and ensure 100% uptime and availability.

To do so, there will be a lot of interest going into quality assurance, especially for performance testing of applications. Decision-makers must know how well-equipped their digital channels are before getting ready for the sales season. Once they have specific insights, performance enhancements, and optimizations can be carried out to ensure their online channels remain resilient during the holiday shopping season.

A better customer experience will be the winning strategy

There is no denying the fact that customers will flock to almost every online store in search of better deals during the holiday season. Meeting their expectations and providing the best overall experience will be key for retailers during these days of action. The above trends typically point to a broader requirement for retailers to have a more holistic audit and strategic growth plan for their operations to meet expectations. Doing it in-house will not be a great option and this is where retailers can associate with a reliable technology partner like Recode to bolster their digital sales channels. Get in touch with us to learn how to build the best holiday season online shopping experience for your customers.