With less than 15 weeks to go until the start of the holiday season, this is a critical time of year for retailers to be proactive and start developing their pricing strategies. Price sensitive categories in particular – such as consumer electronics – need to be leveraging competitor price intelligence in order to attract today’s value-driven shopper.
According to eMarketer, retail ecommerce holiday sales in the US will increase approximately 15% again this year, with sales for the holiday season expected to reach $61.8 billion, up from $53.7 billion last year. Mcommerce is expected to play an important part in overal digital holiday retail spending, with sales from mobile devices expected to account for 16% of digital sales.
These shifts in consumer shopping behaviour and channel usage have introduced new dynamics into how retailers tackle this crucial time of the year – with smartphones powering an ever-greater share of sales and playing a greater role in buying decisions. According to Gartner, two-thirds of U.S. smartphone users will use their device to check prices or do product research – and often this research is being done moments before making a purchase.
Competitive price intelligence is therefore vital in order to help retailers compete more effectively for value-driven shoppers who will expect to find the best deals on offer this holiday season. Until now, consumers have held the advantage over retailers as they showroom to find the lowest price. However, armed with price intelligence tools, retailers now have an even greater power across thousands of products. Whilst the consumer may win on price, retailers who use tools such as Profitero are able to better understand their position in the marketplace and as a result, make smarter and faster price decisions.
As retailers finalise their promotional strategies, pricing needs to be core in order to embrace the showrooming opportunity. Whilst your customers are more aware than ever of competitor prices, it is your view of competitor prices and product assortments which is critical to generating optimal sales and margins.
The holiday season offers a wealth of opportunities for retailers to benefit from the predicted strong growth in online sales. Those who use competitive pricing intelligence and tailor their holiday strategies to meet consumers’ expectations will be the ones most likely to succeed.
To find out how some of the world’s leading retailers will be using Profitero Price Intelligence to make smarter and faster decisions this holiday season, email us today at sales@profitero.com or visit www.profitero.com.
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About Profitero
Profitero is the leading global provider of online competitor pricing data. We provide both bricks & mortar and online retailers with their competitors’ prices, promotions and full product assortment information. Profitero’s accurate and timely competitor intelligence enables our customers to make better informed and more profitable pricing decisions, helping them to increase sales as well as margins.
To discover how Profitero can help make your pricing smarter, contact us at sales@profitero.com or visit www.profitero.com.