As the holiday season approaches, retailers have a lot to glean from the many trends that have shaped 2023, including mobile and social commerce.
Royal Mail further explores these trends and delves into why retailers should be leveraging them to help drive up revenue during one of the busiest shopping seasons of the year.
Key Findings
Social media continues to impact how consumers shop. Although Facebook and Instagram have long reigned as the social media platforms of choice for shopping, TikTok is coming in strong. In fact, Royal Mail cited research from Adobe’s Digital Economy Index 2023, which found that from January 2022 to May 2023, e-commerce traffic generated by TikTok content increased by 378%.
Those findings echo similar sentiments from other recent studies, including one from ESW, which found that more consumers will be leveraging TikTok this year for their holiday shopping needs and gift inspirations.
Sustainability was another trend that’s top-of-mind for many retailers this year—and it’s one of the key factors consumers are looking for when shopping. Indeed, 55% of consumers polled in Royal Mail’s “Online Retail Consumer Report” said they were more likely to shop and purchase from businesses who were committed to sustainability. What’s more, 76% of respondents said they would support fully recyclable packaging.
Consumers Want Choice
At the end of the day, as Royal Mail points out, consumers want choice—choice in how they shop, choice in when they shop, and choice in how they pay.
In fact, the last-mile plays a critical role, driving many consumers to decide if they want to purchase from that retailer or not. Roughly 68% of shoppers said that they wouldn’t purchase from a retailer if they used a delivery partner they didn’t trust.
