Shopping habits have changed considerably in the past few years, both from an economic perspective and a technological one. Consumers' budgets were constrained due to hardships in the job and financial markets, while devices such as smartphones and tablets have increased the number of ways that customers can research and purchase items. 

Although retailers have adjusted to some of these factors, managing all of them without the right retail business intelligence can be difficult. Merchants also had to account for a shortened holiday shopping season this year, and according to comScore, that may be one of the reasons why the final spending numbers fell short of some projections. Although gift purchases originating on desktop computers rose by 10 percent between the holiday shopping season in 2012 and 2013, this was a few percentage points short of what comScore expected. 

ComScore noted that there were no billion-dollar spending days during the final week of holiday shopping, and the heavy discounts offered by many merchants may have also decreased the potential for greater gains. Although desktop computers remain a popular choice for consumers to buy gifts and other goods, retail industry professionals should acknowledge that attracting the most customers possible will rely on omnichannel operations that cover the gamut of technology now available. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 at 5:04 am .