Holiday Shopping During a Pandemic

The holiday shopping season is typically a busy one for supermarkets, restaurants and other retailers. The average shopper expects to spend P20,000 on holiday sales by 2020. But this year's holiday shopping season definitely won't be like those of the past. The coronavirus pandemic is reshaping the way people buy and spend more than one way during the holiday season.

In terms of the key trends in holiday shopping this year the focus is less on purchasing "hot products and more on ensuring health and safety when shopping. In the DealAid.org report, 90% of customers say they have spent more time shopping online since the first occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although 87 per cent of consumers shopped in a holiday shop last year just 60 per cent of consumers say they are planning to do so this year. Consumers are still planning to invest their money on holidays this year, amid financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study showed that almost 40 per cent of consumers expect to spend the same amount as they did last year while 11 per cent currently plan to spend more.2 Of the almost $1,000 on average they plan to spend, according to the NRF, half of that is budgeted for gift transactions.

Curbside delivery and order online for in-store pickup are also items that holiday shoppers are involved in this year. In the PwC report, 55% of millennials said they would use the curbside pickup for their holiday orders, while 52% said they were planning to buy items online and pick them up at the shop. Not unexpectedly, curbside collection improved by 52 per cent over the last year, with retailers providing 31 percent of traffic conversions to their web pages. The number of sales force conversions registered was 19 percent.

For online holiday shopping in Davao, make sure to shop early to avoid having to deal with out of stock items due to the holiday rush. It’s also best to opt for cashless payments for your safety and wellbeing. Buy christmas and holiday ingredients online to avoid going to overly crowded supermarkets too. Davao christmas food shopping is now made easier, thanks to homegrown and artisanal shops like Malagos Homegrown Produce. To know more about your christmas shopping options, check out their website now at malagoshomegrownproduce.com.