10/10 has a nice ring, or more precisely, a nice “ca-ching” to it, right? That’s what retail consultants, one shopping app and a growing number of major retailers are hoping as they cook up yet another shopping event to jump start a holiday season that must deliver.
Deborah Weinswig, CEO and founder of Coresight Research, in a partnership with reward-shopping app Shopkick got her inspiration from China’s Singles’ Day, the world’s largest shopping day that takes place Nov. 11 and generated $38 billion in sales last year. More than a dozen major retailers have signed on to 10.10, although they’ve yet to disclose their participation, according to a Bloomberg report. Beyond the 10.10 group, major retailers have announced an extended holiday season that puts Black Friday in the middle, not the beginning of the march to Christmas.
As for the manufacturing of an event? Weinswig says it’s a must to give retailers time to adjust to a holiday season like no other, with more online sales, limited shipping capacity and fewer shoppers in store. Deloitte last week projected e-commerce holiday sales would surge by 25 percent to 35 percent compared to a 14.7 percent gain in 2019. And retailers are still adjusting to limited merchandise and holiday buying season that disrupted and limited inventory.
“If we don’t pull it forward, then it won’t happen,” Weinswig, a former Wall Street retail analyst, told Bloomberg.
The second Saturday in October is already getting traction, at least in the press. “If the consumer does what we think they’re going to do, which is be in the mood to start shopping around 10/10, it’s going to be good news for retailers,” said Keith Jelinek, managing director in the retail practice at global consultancy Berkeley Research Group told Bloomberg. “The more volume that they can start to see being transacted earlier, the less pressure the closer they get to Christmas.”
Earlier purchases could give retailers a better read on what customers are looking for, said Weinswig, who’s long pushed for a U.S. equivalent to Singles’ Day. “I’ve been on stage begging CEOs to do their own shopping holiday” for years, she told Bloomberg.
So if you’re itching to go full on Christmas when pumpkin spice lattes are still on the menu, now might be the year to try whatever you can to get yourself and your customers out of the pandemic funk and ready to celebrate something — beyond a new mask and a trip to the grocery store. Remember, many families won’t be able to gather round a tree together this year, and they’ll appreciate every bit of help florists can offer in delivering the spirit. (Remember Mother’s Day?).
Amanda Long is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
