MasterCard Forecasts Strong Holiday Sales

With Black Friday just weeks away, both retailers and consumers alike are gearing up for (or even already in the midst of) the holiday shopping season. Armed with the retail sales data from its SpendingPulse analytics tool, MasterCard revealed the biggest trends for this year’s healthy spending season.

Sarah Quinlan, MasterCard’s SVP of Market Insights, sat down with MPD CEO Karen Webster to discuss a few of the most noteworthy trends and how merchants and shoppers are gearing up for a surge in holiday spending this year.

Consumers Will Pay For Experiences

When it comes to spending, consumers are not afraid to open their wallets on goods or services that offer an experience, such as restaurants, travel, lodging, airlines, etc.

MasterCard’s SVP of Market Insights, Sarah Quinlan, said that in order for merchants to position their businesses to capitalize on the fact that consumers are spending experientially, they must ensure an experience is created for shoppers in store or through the products being sold.

“It’s tying your merchandise into people’s daily lives. [Shoppers] find value for money in the merchandise. So, they are looking for things that make them feel as though they can see themselves creating a memory, creating an experience,” Quinlan told MPD CEO Karen Webster.

Physical Stores Reign Supreme

“The store is still king,” Quinlan stated, emphasizing the importance of creating a meaningful and unforgettable experience for consumers within the store.

According to MasterCard’s recent omnishopper report, eCommerce still only represents a small piece of the overall retail sales.

“What we do know is that 70 percent of Americans actually do look online either while in the store or before they go shopping, which makes that presence on the Web critical because it’s curating an entire shopping experience for the client,” Quinlan said.

Many merchants continue to bring together the best of both worlds (physical and digital) through services that span multiple channels, such as order online and pick up in store. Offerings like this not only meet the needs of consumers but also can be critical to the revenue growth of the retailers that provide it.

Consumers typically add on more to their purchase when picking up an order in store that they placed online, which is why it remains something MasterCard encourages its merchant partners to make available to consumers.

As Quinlan explained, “omnishopper doesn’t mean having online and having in store; it means meeting consumers’ needs when and where they want to execute transactions.”

Black Friday Holds The Title

While Black Friday is still considered to be the biggest spending day of the holiday season, MasterCard’s SpendingPulse found that the day’s dominance has diminished slightly in recent years due to more retailers opening up or extending Thanksgiving Day hours.

However, Quinlan noted that this year could mark a turnaround as more retailers are planning to opt out of earlier hours or opening at all on Thanksgiving, which could move foot traffic into the Black Friday experience.

“We still expect Black Friday to be a great boom, and it will drive spending this year. There is no doubt. We are also expecting increased growth over last year on Black Friday,” Quinlan confirmed.

For more information on MasterCard SpendingPulse’s retail trends for the 2015 holiday shopping season, check out the infographic below.

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