• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 8, 2023

Retailers are holding on to the belief that Black Friday and Cyber Monday can produce powerful results. Fifty-eight percent of retailers surveyed by Coveo say holiday events are a strong source of revenue.

But even with the data in this report providing a good representation of the future, hyper-personalized offers will change online purchasing.

Retailers who succeed no longer rely on events as a way to drive foot traffic into stores, but rather use them to generate brand excitement and maximize the experience for shoppers.

Coveo’s research, released today, provides a glimpse into the mindset of retailers as the holiday season approaches.

The report -- Black Friday to Cyber Week Evolution: What Are the Winning Strategies, Now -- shows 90% of retailers surveyed believe personalization will drive sale events within the next three years. These deals are called “just for you” or hyper-personalized offers.

Some 90% of respondents say they are already running these deals. But more significantly, 90% say hyper-personalization will end industrywide special sales events within the next three years -- making way for a new type of promotion.

This year, 70% said they will spend less on mass-market promotions, but expect to achieve greater sales through personalized offers over the next two years.

Retailers also have extended return policies. It's not clear whether the consumers are bucketed in an audience segment, or whether the deals are specifically for a  specific consumer.

RSR Research conducted the study in August 2023 with 92 U.S.-based retailers, most with revenue of more than $250 million.

Driving traffic online means using search. Those who achieved success, at 62%, said they have improved online search categories — such as “gifts for dad” — to make discovering products easier, while 66% said they use search engines to boost products on the product listing page of their website.

Some retailers will rely on search, loyalty, rewards, and “just for you deals," while others will gravitate toward technology.

About 52% of retailers say they will have implemented generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in their contact center, and 52% will have implemented some automated capabilities in anticipation of increased call-center volume this holiday season. 

About 32% of retailers say they are experimenting with GAI capabilities now for possible implementation in the future.

While most retailers surveyed still rely on the Black Friday and Cyber Week peak period for driving revenue, Coveo’s holiday report shows that top performers are using better strategies to help boost profitability around the holiday season.

Retailers with high performance have different goals for holiday promotions, with 60% saying their goal is to increase average transaction values, compared to 35% for lower-performing retailers. Top performers, at 60%, also sell through inventory before products reach end-of-cycle.

Lower-performing retailers do something different. They focus on getting rid of surplus merchandise. Only 48% of top performing retailers listed this as a holiday promotion strategy.

More than 50% of retailers that perform well tout the importance of easy returns, price or product availability, and social-proof badging.

Some 55% they expect to shift more than 41% of their sales value toward online shopping and fulfillment during Black Friday. In comparison, only 32% of underperformers report doing the same.