Holiday Horizon 2019: Debt.com’s Predictions & You

Your Marketing Dollar

Howard Dvorkin, CPA, and Chairman of Debt.com, says men buy fewer but more expensive gifts while women buy smaller and more practical items explaining why their research shows men will outspend women buy twice as much.

Tinuiti Marketing, with a poll of 2,003 adults, said almost a third of male respondents would spend more than $500 on gifts while nearly half of female respondents stated they would spend $250 or less. Those are interesting numbers.

They also help to show where your social media

marketing dollar should go.

The bigger ticket items may need a more male bent while your smaller items might need a more female one. Depending of course on what you are selling.

Government Interference

A specter hanging over this Christmas present is Trump’s tariffs. Set to come into effect on the 15th of December, the National Retail Federation states there shouldn’t be much of an effect since retailers are stocking up so the tariffs don’t affect their supply.

If you haven’t considered it already, you may wish to follow that idea and stock up on the things you might not be able to get when the government steps in.

Returns

It stands to reason you should make returns as simple and painless as possible for your consumer. With a large number of people who have returned items they purchased online, this might be a great time to make the most of your return policy.

Don’t make the process difficult to navigate and put it out there on your social media how you intend to handle the situation. Confident consumers buy.

To Storefront or Not to Storefront

According to Debt.com’s predictions, it depends on who you’re trying to reach. Generation X buys predominantly online while Generation Z, many of them lacking a credit card for online purchases, buys in storefronts.

That being said, you should definitely crunch the numbers and consider your audience before deciding whether or not a popup store or mall kiosk is worthwhile for you this holiday season.

Altogether, this could be a lucrative holiday season with holiday budgets rising but you will definitely want to consider what you’re doing with your social media and your store before the Christmas rush.