U.S. holiday e-commerce sales are expected to grow between 6 and 7 percent compared to last year’s record-breaking results, according to a new report. An early analysis from digital marketing agency NetElixir predicts online sales will account for more than 20 percent of total retail sales during November and December. But, retailers will have to navigate supply chain issues carefully. NetElixir expects rapidly changing consumer behavior, shipping cutoff dates and product availability to be factors that could limit growth.
“We understand that we are being aggressive in releasing this calendar as early as mid-September, but we hope it signifies to retailers that we need to be preparing now for all possible challenges and obstacles we’re likely to face as consumer buying behaviors continue to shift erratically,” says Udayan Bose, founder and CEO at NetElixir. “With the delta variant and lacking vaccination progressions, we cannot afford to ignore that we are entering an endemic era. Now is the time for retailers to plan their pivots.”
NetElixir predicts the highest-growth days to occur on Nov. 21, 22, 26 and 29 and Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, and 14. On each of those days, the report predicts growth will exceed 12 percent compared with the same day the year before. BOPIS commerce will surge starting Dec. 12 and last-minute mobile purchases will spike from Dec. 19 through Dec. 21.
