Retailers prepare for the gold-plated “quarter”, with increased demand

Retail supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and susceptible to disruption, while rising global inflation impacts retailer costs and alters consumer buying behavior.In this sector, no year is the same as another, and the same can be said about one of the most predictable periods of the calendar: the race for year-end shopping. 

The months from October to December have, for decades, represented a great revenue generation opportunity, which is why they are often called the “quarter golden”. This period includes increasingly globalized events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as the December festivities and promotions that extend into the new year. 

However, as consumers affected by cost of living changes take a more conservative approach to how they spend their money, it requires retail to raise the bar on their operations through data intelligence. Those who can take advantage of the sheer volume of purchase information will be able to adopt more accurate and personalized conduct, demonstrating value and influencing the changing behavior of conservative buyers. 

What to expect from the 2024 golden quarter?

If there is something certain about the year-end shopping period of 2024, it is that the IT and data infrastructure will be essential to take advantage of the increase in demand and convert it into sales. In recent years, there is a trend of smoothing activity peaks during specific promotional events, such as Black Friday, as they are no longer concentrated in a single day, and have begun to extend over weeks and months, allowing greater competitive advantage. 

Consumers increasingly rely on online channels to decide what and where to buy, researching among the various options available. Although previously the technological concerns of retailers focused only on preparing and maintaining the operation during short-lived traffic peaks, the activity is less predictable, currently. The prolonged period of year-end sales requires not only resilience, but also intelligence, analysis of customer journeys and adaptation of strategies. 

Preparing for success

Retailers need to prepare their systems to deal with high traffic intensity and the unpredictability of when spikes will occur. When problems are observed and services are impacted in a period of high traffic, time is money: companies cannot make their teams available for several days trying to identify and correct failures. It is critical that they implement real-time monitoring, simulating user behavior and testing traffic capacity in advance, ensuring greater confidence in the ability to overcome occurrences that may arise. 

In this scenario, monitoring and observability driven by Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) have proven valuable in e-commerce environments. Complex IT systems can no longer be managed by humans alone, which makes implementing AI mandatory to prevent or resolve incidents before they affect the customer or so that one can provide the root cause, context and solution of anomalies to the IT team, so that resolution occurs almost in real time. 

Data-driven insights: the winners differential

In a way, the race for holiday shopping is a high-intensity microcosm of consumer behavior throughout the year. However, when we talk about non-core expenses, a targeted and strategic approach is key. The average cart abandonment rate is 66.5%, according to data from OptiMonk and Conversific. Sales conversion is becoming more difficult, while it is becoming easier and easier to miss it. 

By investing in IT observability, retailers can better prepare to enjoy the golden quarter.Every click, tap, or swipe on the screen in the customer journey tells a story. Retailers can visually capture and reproduce a complete digital experience for each user by identifying the friction points that cause cart abandonment.Maybe pages are difficult to navigate, mobile users are responding differently to certain promotions or certain payment options are causing unnecessary friction.This detailed level of insights will differentiate winners, allowing them to deliver the most proactive, seamless, and accurate digital experience to convert sales. 

With an abundance of sales and customer experience data at hand, retailers who invest in extracting insights and answers from that information will reap the greatest rewards this shopping season and beyond.