Shopify on Thursday released its Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) global research survey, indicating that brand loyalty, climate consciousness and quality over price are among top preferences of customers ahead of the big shopping season. The BFCM 2022 will begin on November 25 and conclude on 28. talking from the business perspective, the BFCM Survey revealed that online merchants are eager to connect with potential customers across different channels.
What Data Says?
Huge Expectations: Online Merchants are expecting huge sale during the BFCM 2022 season despite uncertain economic conditions worldwide. As much as 73 percent of merchants told in the survey that recession might not affect shopping behaviours of consumers this BFCM season.
Quality Over Price: The survey quoted that 76 percent of online shoppers are planning to buy quality products that last longer. High prices might be fine for a quality product.
Planet First: As many as 40 percent of online buyers pledged to protect climate this shopping season. They won’t mind paying extra for climate-conscious products.
During the BFCM season last year, more than 47 million people made online purchases from stores set up on Shopify. As part of research, Shopify studied over 24,000 consumers and 9,000 small and medium merchants based on the Canadian e-commerce platform. The prime objective of Shopify’s BFCM survey was to know if and how inflation affects consumer spending habits and retailers’ business.
The survey concluded that both shoppers and merchants are planning to adhere to three Cs — considered, conscious, and connected.
Intentional Shopping
Highlight of the survey remains to be intentional shopping behaviour of customers as more buyers want to shop climate-conscious products. Amid this, brands with sustainable practices are expected to gain much more than the conventional brands. Also, brands with presence on multiple social media platforms are expected to accept higher volume of orders.
“Black Friday Cyber Monday is more than just a weekend–it’s a season. It is without a doubt the biggest commerce event of the year. I’ve said this before: modern retailers need to sell wherever their customers spend time–online, offline, and everywhere in between,” Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, said as quoted by news.shopify.com.
“If you’ve built a community and a direct relationship with your customers, you’ll also secure their loyalty. Consumers are voting with their wallets to support the brands they love that reflect their values,” Finkelstein added.
Top-notch Products
Online shoppers are not going to compromise on quality even if it comes at a higher price. As many as 75 percent of consumers have reduced their spending in anticipation of big discounts this BFCM season. Over 57 percent of online shoppers are planning to spend more than what they did last year. Based on this anticipation, 75 percent of online merchants are planning the best of deals for consumers this BFCM season.
“Taylor Morris sells luxury eyewear, but we pride ourselves on being accessible. Getting the offer right has never been more important. We’re exploring new ways customers can buy into our brand in a budget-friendly way, like offering prescription glasses on subscription or adding more support services,” Nicholas Dellaportas, founder of Taylor Morris Eyewear in the U.K., said.
Taylor Morris Eyewear is a British luxury eyewear brand that has its store based on Shopify. The company is planning to offer sustainable solution this year. “When a customer’s prescription changes, we’re adding more options to adapt their existing lenses instead of them buying a whole new pair,” Dellaportas added, proposing a budget-friendly and environment-friendly option.
Inflation
With rising costs, consumers have reduced spending power, though they do not hesitate to make at least one online purchase every month. As many as 84 percent of buyers told Shopify in its BFCM survey that they will compare prices before making any purchase during BFCM 2022. Seventy seven percent millennials said that they would look for products with value for money. Among 65 percent of Gen Z consumers, higher prices are not going to matter much as they look to make heavier purchases this festive holiday season.
As many as 67 percent of consumers admitted that they struggle due to ongoing inflation. However, they are not shying away from treating themselves each month. About 69 percent of sample size is planning to make smaller purchases this BFCM. This way, they would make happy purchases within tight budget constraints.
Shopify For Environment
The survey revealed that word-of-mouth is helping climate-conscious products gain popularity among shoppers. They are ready to pay extra for products that do not harm planet earth. As many as 43 percent of shoppers are planning to try brands that promise to follow sustainability practices. Carbon-neutral shipping and low or no waste practices are among top practices in demand right now.
ALSO READ: This is How Shopify is Making Earth a Better Place to Live
Canada-based multinational e-commerce company Shopify is also a big advocate of environment friendly commerce. On its website, Shopify states: “Shopify brings merchants, customers, and climate entrepreneurs together in the fight against climate change”.
Shopify constantly works to empower a sustainable commerce by helping Shopify merchants neutralise shipping emissions. For this, Shopify has partnered with experts to develop high-leverage projects like Shop Pay. Explaining how it works, the website states: “Every time a customer places an order using Shop Pay, Shopify funds carbon removal to counteract the impact on the planet at no extra cost”.
In its bid against carbon, Shopify has pledged to purchase carbon removal during the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) to reduce shipping emissions from every single order placed during the busiest shopping season. In the last two years, Shopify had offset a total of over 120,000 tonnes of carbon.
Word-of-mouth
The survey also studied marketing practices followed by online businesses. As many as 63 percent of online shoppers are fine to recommend an environment friendly product to his friends and family. As many users are researching for brands that share similar consciousness for the environment. They would preferably choose products that can be recycled and do not harm the environment.
Shoppers are intending to reduce their carbon footprint as 42 percent of them are ready to accept the additional cost of sustainability. Twenty percent of consumers feels that deliveries with lesser carbon footprint will cause delay. However, 60 percent consumers are ready to wait for longer if that saves the earth.
As many as 45 percent of shoppers are ready to bear costs of carbon neutral delivery practices. Among sellers, 79 percent believe that inflation won’t affect their sustainability efforts.
“Our customers understand that if they want sustainable clothing that lasts, they may pay a little more in the short-term for long-term benefit. People understand that current fast fashion practices are unsustainable, so they trust us even when budgets are tight,” Lutz Schwenke, Founder and CEO of TwoThirds, said
TwoThirds is a fashion brand based in Spain. “We also have some great sales, which reward our customers and keep overproduction rates to a minimum, something that’s critical to us remaining a climate-neutral brand,” Schwenke added.
