Holiday returns can add up to big losses. But big data can give retailers a competitive advantage and reduce shrinkage and fraud.

Holiday sales are the lifeblood of many retailers. But holiday returns can put a damper on end-of-year celebrations. Reportedly, 17.8% of holiday gifts were returned last year according to the National Retail Foundation.

With more people shopping online than ever before, more gifts arrive without try-ons or inspection. So... the shirt is the wrong size. The speaker isn’t compatible with the computer. Or he already has a socket wrench. That’s why rates for holiday returns are typically higher than the rest of the year, according to the National Retail Federation.

And why walk-in customer pick-up centers are a gift that keeps on giving.

We thought about posting this blog last month, but the Autumn sun was still warm and it seemed too early to talk about Christmas before we’d even had a chance to enjoy Halloween. 

Retail planners, however, have been thinking about how to prepare for a successful holiday shopping season for months now, and industry analysts have been crunching their numbers for 2021 holiday sales forecasts. 

Holiday Shopping in the Time of COVID

Who would have thought we’d still be having this conversation about COVID-19 in September, let alone planning for the first holiday-shopping-during-a-pandemic season in living memory? And yet, here we are — and smart retailers are already thinking about December. They’re hard at work adapting sales and marketing strategies to deliver a merry gift-giving season at the end of a stressful year unlike any other. 

Benefits of Pop-Up Retail

When thinking of the holiday shopping season, the time frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas is probably the first to come to mind. But what about Easter? If the Easter shopping season isn’t on your radar, your business may be missing out on an increasingly ripe opportunity for e-commerce sales.

It used to be that Black Friday was the day of days for retail sales. Holiday revenue — and annual receipts for that matter — all hinged on luring huge crowds into stores on Black Friday. But the past few years haven’t been kind to Black Friday in-store sales, including this year. The number of people who went to stores to start their holiday shopping slid downward once again.