The festive season always presents both opportunities and challenges for retailers, and this year will be no different. As a result of rampant inflation, consumers are shopping more mindfully and many are tightening their belts across the board – so discretionary spending on Christmas presents is likely to be somewhat diminished in relation to previous years.

In light of this, what can retailers do to make the festive period a success? Can they still deliver exceptional customer experiences and capture maximum wallet share, even though shoppers are less free with their spending? They can – if they start early and consider these tips.

Click & Collect saw a massive upturn during the height of the pandemic. But just because COVID-19 appears to be on the wane, don't expect shoppers to forego the convenience these options offer. In fact, eMarketer expects the use of Click & Collect to grow steadily until 2024, with sales increasing by 15-20% every year.

So while there may not be any more sudden, meteoric growth in the near future, the adoption of Click & Collect is growing steadily, and retailers should expect their omnichannel operations to be put to the test this festive season. That includes everything from inventory accuracy and on-floor availability to order fulfilment and more.

Consider the following:

• Are you confident that your stock management system is accurate as to what is in the stock room, on shelves or out of stock?
• Do your inventory, point-of-sale and e-commerce systems communicate seamlessly and in real time? Can shoppers buy online with confidence, or are they liable to discover that items originally listed as in stock actually aren't?
• Is it quick and convenient for consumers to pick up their items in the store or at the kerbside? Are fulfilment areas clearly marked and easy to access?
• Is the path from the stock room to the purchase area quick and easy for shoppers to navigate?

If the answer to any of the above questions is ‘no’, Christmas Click & Collect orders to be partially fulfilled – or not fulfilled at all. That will inevitably lead to poor customer experiences and, in some cases, it may cost you a customer altogether.

Since more consumers are shopping with specific items in mind rather than casually browsing, delivering great customer service will be essential. After all, they may need assistance in finding a particular product, size or colourway, or have questions about a product or service. They are there to make a purchase, but if they can't find an assistant, or if all assistants are busy with tasks such as replenishment, that is a sale you are going to lose.

This is why it pays to schedule your shifts based on actual traffic data, rather than making every Christmas shift an all-hands-on-deck affair. To do so, you'll need a traffic counting technology  that is highly accurate, reliable, readily available and easily implemented. These solutions will give you real-world data about your stores' actual traffic, meaning you will possess concrete knowledge of when your busiest days – and times of day – are. Armed with this information, you can allocate labour more effectively and ensure the busiest shifts are fully staffed, while scheduling non-customer-focused activities for the most appropriate time each day.

Not only does this ensure that there will always be assistants on hand to serve customers, it will also save you money by not staffing slower shifts unnecessarily.

Of course, you can consult our annual report, Europe's Busiest Christmas Shopping Days of 2022. Based on historical data, weather patterns, shopper trends and preferences, important events and more, it's a great resource for helping you to anticipate traffic and plan your shifts smartly.

You've got shopper personas. You've probably conducted focus groups and audience testing. But do you really know who is walking into and out of your stores each and every day? Do you have concrete demography on age, gender, shopping preferences and more? If the answer is ‘no’, you are not marketing, selling or merchandising as effectively as possible – and that means you won't be able to fully capitalise on the upcoming festive season’s revenue potential.

So how do you obtain all of this very specific information? The simplest and most cost-effective way is by leveraging Computer Vision technology. Computer Vision Analytics are available for collecting data on demographics and in-store behaviour, meaning you'll know who is visiting your stores and when, how long they stay, how long they linger in front of displays and endcaps, and what paths they take to purchase.

Another valuable source of consumer insight comes from advanced shopper mobility data. This data can show you where your customers go before and after visiting your stores, along with the other retailers they're visiting and how your stores are performing against them.

Put together, these two solutions paint a powerful and comprehensive picture of who your shoppers are, what they want, how they engage with displays and promotions, and the other retailers that are competing for your share of their wallets. As a result, you'll be able to market, sell and merchandise to your actual customers, instead of vague personas.

In the context of the festive season, this means you can fully capitalise on the opportunities presented over the Christmas period – and that will be a major win for your bottom line.

Consumers may be tightening their belts this Christmas, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be shopping. They will – but they will do so purposefully and with specific products in mind. A sizeable portion will also prioritise speed and convenience. With these factors in mind, retailers may wish to consider:

• Optimising their Click & Collect fulfilment operations.
• Ensuring their inventory is as accurate as possible, both in stores and online
• Staff shifts based on real-world traffic data
• Leveraging Computer Vision Analytics and mobility data to get the full picture of who their shoppers are, what they want and how they engage with products and displays

If you can make these four tactics a reality, you're guaranteed to deliver a great Christmas shopping experience. But don't stop there: Get your copy of our latest white paper, The 2022 Christmas Retail Shopper Insights Wish List, today. It's full of insights you can use to deliver great experiences that lead to happy customers – and a healthy bottom line – this festive season.