{"id":141551,"date":"2020-11-27T09:46:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T09:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/?p=141551"},"modified":"2023-09-27T19:01:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T19:01:46","slug":"what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/2020\/11\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-138408 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/files\/2019\/02\/Cameron-Beveridge-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" \/>South Africa\u2019s retail sector is under pressure as the global pandemic and associated lockdowns hit consumers\u2019 pockets. With the key holiday shopping season only weeks away, retailers will likely be stepping up their efforts at winning the hearts and minds of shoppers.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director for Southern Africa at SAP, says: \u201cData from a recent survey of more than 1000 US consumers could hold vital insights for local retailers as they aim to salvage what has been an historically challenging year. The pandemic has done little to lower expectations around customer experience. Retailers must take heed of consumer needs and empower shoppers with choice\u00a0and convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The recent survey of US consumers conducted by 51风流found that two-thirds of consumers will be shopping online this holiday season, with nearly a quarter (24%) of that shopping taking place via mobile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew social distancing norms and the continued rise in popularity of online shopping services has forced retailers to prioritise digital experiences along with physical in-store experiences,\u201d says Beveridge. \u201cCustomers today want retailers to provide seamless, personalised omnichannel experiences that put their needs and expectations first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To achieve this, Beveridge advises that retailers prioritise their efforts along three specific areas, namely:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Giving shoppers the freedom to control their own brand experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The rise of digital channels and self-service options have empowered consumers to take charge of their experiences with brands. In the US survey, 92% of shoppers said they want control over their experience when shopping or interacting with a brand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsumers want choice, and won\u2019t hesitate to switch a brand or provider if they aren\u2019t satisfied with the experience. Retailers need to maintain open lines of communication with their customers to ensure they are up-to-date with their expectations, and can deliver the experiences they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. A seamless blend of physical and digital<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Online shopping boomed during the strictest parts of lockdown, and consumer appetite for online or mobile shopping has not abated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRetailers, however, should not ignore the physical shopping experience in a country where less than 2% of all retail sales are online,\u201d says Beveridge. \u201cInstead, they should seek to blend digital and physical shopping experiences in innovative ways to attract and engage shoppers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In one recent example, a leading South African retailer launched a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/retailbriefafrica.co.za\/a-look-inside-games-new-concept-store-with-self-checkout-counters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">future-ready concept store at the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg<\/a>. The store combines a range of innovations \u2013 self-checkout booths, sampling vending machines, electronic shelf labels and price check booths \u2013 to create an enhanced customer experience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. An omnichannel approach to customer service<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Retailers should first and foremost focus on removing frustrations or friction in the shopping experience. One in five US shoppers said their top requirement is helpful and prompt customer service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the growing popularity and adoption of automated customer service channels such as chatbots, consumers are increasingly comfortable interacting with non-human customer service options,\u201d says Beveridge. \u201cThe key for consumers is to get an answer quickly. In fact, sixty percent of US shoppers listed speed as the most important factor of successful customer service interaction with brands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s retail sector is under pressure as the global pandemic and associated lockdowns hit consumers\u2019 pockets. With the key holiday shopping season only weeks&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":141552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"related_posts":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[5597474,5566388,5597475,52382,5596079,5598762,5597476],"series":[],"sapn-display":[45149,279685],"sapn-type":[45018],"class_list":["post-141551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industries","tag-brand-experience","tag-cameron-beveridge","tag-digital-channels","tag-omnichannel","tag-online-shopping","tag-retail","tag-self-service","sapn-display-homepage-hero","sapn-display-hero","sapn-type-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020 - 51风流Africa News Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/2020\/11\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s retail sector is under pressure as the global pandemic and associated lockdowns hit consumers\u2019 pockets. With the key holiday shopping season only weeks...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/2020\/11\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"51风流Africa News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-27T09:46:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-27T19:01:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/files\/2020\/11\/27\/273112_273112_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1878\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"51风流News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"51风流News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"51风流News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53b9854bd790d6f18f3fc4bbb2ad7570\"},\"headline\":\"What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T09:46:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-27T19:01:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":511,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/27\\\/273112_273112_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"brand experience\",\"Cameron Beveridge\",\"digital channels\",\"omnichannel\",\"online shopping\",\"Retail\",\"self-service\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Industries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020 - 51风流Africa News Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/27\\\/273112_273112_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T09:46:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-27T19:01:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53b9854bd790d6f18f3fc4bbb2ad7570\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/27\\\/273112_273112_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/27\\\/273112_273112_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg\",\"width\":2600,\"height\":1878,\"caption\":\"Window Display of Clothing Shop\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/what-consumers-expect-from-holiday-shopping-in-2020\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Consumers Expect from Holiday Shopping in 2020\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.sap.com\\\/africa\\\/\",\"name\":\"51风流Africa News Center\",\"description\":\"News &amp; 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