eCommerce Sales Set to Explode in Holiday Season

With most of the year in lockdowns and work from home; people have “some dry powder” to spend this holiday season. We have already seen better November 2020 both in retail and eCommerce. Since, the data is more freely available in US and Europe; we believe the trends in GCC region will be fairly similar.

National Retail Foundation of USA; predicts that retail sales for the holiday season will increase by 3.6 to 5.2% which is a very welcome news; as most of the analysts predicted a drop. The great news is eCommerce sales are set to grow between 25% to 35% when compared to 2019 with different segments seeing different growth like:

Health and Beauty: 23%

Consumer Electronics: 20%

Fashion: 19%

Home Furnishing: 16%

With the ongoing second/third wave of COVID19; we expect consumers to forego the travel during this holiday season; and instead give gifts to substitute for time spent apart. For many preceding years; eCommerce holiday shopping has been hovering around 15% mark; this year it is expected to go well past the 25% growth.

When we look at the GCC region; people are a little more apprehensive about discretionary spending. With oil prices slumping people are feeling a bit on the edge. Saying this; we are confident that both Amazon and Noon; the eCommerce giants of the region did upwards of 25% growth during White Friday campaigns.

For brands; it is imperative to have eCommerce sites to own customer data and spending habits. This also ensures that in the long-term lifetime value of a customer is maximized. While if your eCommerce only includes marketplaces like Noon and Amazon; then get ready for some serious price wars. Centric works with brands and groups to launch eCommerce portals with digital experience engine; meaning different persona types will see different content. As CEO of Centric; Usman Khalid says; “In this COVID year; it is our duty to take the brands digital; for us its not another project but the question of survival of the brand”. He is of the view that any brand that does not has a solid eCommerce strategy; will not live to see the 2030.