The holiday shopping season is well underway and the Cyber Five is just around the corner. With heightened volume both in stores and online, this concentrated shopping period provides a view into how consumer behavior has changed over the previous year — a culmination of new shopper needs and expectations showcased over a few short days.

So, what will stand out in this year’s shopping crescendo? We are expecting to see a theme that centers around personalization. With promising consumer data and predictions, there will still be many shoppers who face financial uncertainty. To compete for wallet share, brands need to provide customer experiences that delight and take gifting to the next level. Here are our predictions for how that will play out over the Cyber Five.

1. Consumers Will Expect Strong Discounts.

Sixty percent of shoppers report that discounts will greatly impact their decision to shop at a retailer this holiday season. Personal finances are precarious for many, as student loan payments resumed in October and inflation remains a concern.

Discounts aren’t exactly a new concept for retailers or consumers during the holidays. What’s different now is that brands will stand out with more personalized deals to match the evolution of shopper expectations. To deliver differentiated experiences, retailers should rely on their customer data to tailor offers based on the shopper’s past purchase behavior and shared preferences. This will help brands better engage customers and increase the likelihood of your brand capturing the sale.

2. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Will Experience Growth.

The financial factors outlined above will also inspire shoppers to use BNPL at a higher rate. Adobe Analytics predicts a 4.8 percent bump in BNPL over 2022’s holiday season – and we expect to see an increase in usage during the Cyber Five as shoppers take advantage of strong discounts.

If your brand doesn’t already offer BNPL, consider integrating with a partner, or looking at how to position what you have in a similar fashion. Do you accept Apple Pay? Then remind shoppers that they can use Apple Pay Later to reap similar benefits. Do you offer a store card? Consider a zero percent or low-rate introductory offer to entice shoppers who need to split their payments over time.

Whether you offer BNPL or not, start with your data before changing your messaging strategy. Not all audiences use BNPL services at the same rate. Do some research on your customer base and if BNPL isn’t an important value-add for them, don’t use up precious promotional copy to advertise it.

3. Shoppers Will Focus on Quality Over Quantity.

With less flexible budgets, shoppers will focus on buying fewer, high-quality items. Compared to 2022, consumers plan to purchase more gifts in categories like gift cards, food and snacks, travel tickets and experiences, and fewer gifts in jewelry, clothing and apparel, and electronics. These items reflect a change in values after the pandemic, with many people prioritizing experiences over things. We saw this in 2023 travel trends – 87 percent of people planning to travel at least as much as they did in 2022, and 49 percent expecting to travel more – and we’re now seeing it in gifting.

If you’re in a category expecting to see declines, consider how you can cross-sell into some of the categories that are growing. Isn’t a vacation gift more fun with a new outfit to accompany it? And new earbuds work wonders for entertainment on a long flight. This is an area where marketplaces and retail media networks can be particularly effective by enabling you to engage with your target audience and capture additional sales.

4. Retailers Will Offer More Unique Customization Options With Their Gifting.

Within more traditional gifting categories, customized gifts can provide an enhanced feeling of quality – and with shoppers buying fewer gifts, they’ll be willing to spend a few extra dollars to make the items they do buy more special. To meet this demand, retailers will offer more options around customized kits, bundles, gift bags, and wrapping to give their products an elevated look and feel, all while providing an experience that engages the gift-giver at every step of the process and offers convenience as a one-stop-shop.

Customer and market research is a great place to start when exploring how much investment to put into customization. Which add-ons are they already taking advantage of, and how can you elevate those options for the holidays? How can you improve the site experience to make things feel more special, more custom, more unique? Is there an opportunity to offer customization as a part of a promotional offer or differentiator from your competitor? Make sure that the value you’re adding will actually be valuable for your customer base.

5. Digital Growth Will Be Fueled By Social Commerce and Influencers.

Social commerce is on track to become a $2.9 trillion industry by 2026, and in today’s landscape there’s an effective way for most brands to engage their audiences in the channel. Social commerce today ranges from more traditional on-platform brand stores to influencers and individuals engaged directly by the brand to sell to their followers.

For the holidays, social commerce offers an experience that can mimic that of shopping in-store with friends or family. The social element can also help a shopper find gifts that their recipient might enjoy by looking at the brands, pages, or influencers the person follows. As we’ve emphasized before, make sure you craft your strategy around the engagement preferences for your particular audience – whether that means building a presence with live streaming, shoppable posts, AR, or other formats.

Conclusion

The Cyber Five is an exciting time for shoppers and brands alike. In light of financial challenges, retailers have an opportunity to stand out to customers by delivering the options that meet their current needs. By using data as their guide and leaning into their audience preferences, retailers can make the 2023 shopping season a happy holiday for all.