We’re looking at holiday retail sales projections and trends as the biggest shopping season of the year begins. The key word for this year’s holiday shoppers is mobile. More than half of consumers will shop online on mobile devices according to Adobe Analytics. Prosper Consumer Confidence shows consumer spending on discretionary items was up 6% in October and 7% up on staples.
Amazon is promising shoppers will find the best prices. Walmart is planning in-store parties and other competitors will respond by price matching, free shipping and other tactics. The National Retail Federation predicts online shopping will grow from 8% to 
12%, more than double the growth of in-store sales. FedEx expects to hire an additional 2,600 workers during the holiday season to help ship more than 400 million packages this year.
Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics will have seven pop-up stores around the country during the holiday season in an innovative program to reach new shoppers. Seven biggest holiday seasonal worker retailers hiring include Lowe’s, Target (100,000), Toys R Us, Best Buy, PetSmart, Macy’s/Bloomingdale’s (80,000) and AT&T. Federal Reserve bank stats shows retail jobs are shifting from stores to warehouses in a surprisingly tight job market. No doubt part of the Amazon influence and competitors’ response.
More people will do their holiday shopping on mobile than on desktop
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57431179/498960230.0.jpg)
If you visit a US retailer’s website this holiday season, you’re most likely to do so on a mobile device. More than half of visits to shopping sites — 54%— will come from smartphones and tablets, surpassing desktop computers for the first time, according to Adobe Analytics’ annual suite of online holiday retail predictions. Customers are still more likely to actually complete a purchase on desktop after looking on mobile, but that’s changing. Via recode.net
The Stars Align for an Above Average Gain In Holiday Spending
In October, consumer confidence rebounds after three months of decline according to Prosper Consumer Confidence. This month, 9% of consumers are confident or very confident in the economy, rising about two points from last month and increasing more than 25% year over year. The current reading is tracking just ahead of the 13 month average of 51.8%. Via forbes.com
Retailers try to step up their game heading into holidays
Online leader Amazon promised Wednesday that shoppers will find better deals than ever before on hot toys, electronics, home goods and other items as it announced the discounts. Starting Wednesday, Prime members, who pay $99 a year for free shipping, will also have access to Amazon Key. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, will have parties for customers at its stores for the first time, around the themes of toys, entertainment and curated gifts. It’s increasing the number of product demonstrations and will expand the role of employees who last year helped find customers the shortest register lines. Via businessinsider.com
Holiday retail wars: Experts predict more sales online than in store
The forecast may be surprising to some, as it seems online retail shopping has been the more popular and convenient way in recent years, but studies show that spending in stores still outweighed online profits. Despite the prediction, storefronts are still doing everything possible to pull in the holiday season shoppers. Experts from the shopping comparison website Dealnews report more and more stores are offering price-match policies to compete with online companies like Amazon. Via Cleveland 19 News
FedEx holiday season surge could hit 400 million packages
FedEx says it will hire 2,600 in Memphis, including 1,000 at the FedEx Express hub, to move holiday volume in the coming peak season. The Memphis-based company’s annual peak season forecast anticipates 26 million packages a day on those Mondays, double the usual amount, as online retailers ship out orders placed over weekends. The surge is being driven by e-commerce, which the National Retail Federation expects to grow 8% to 12% this year, more than double the increase for all retail. Via usatoday.com
Kylie Cosmetics Will Host Nationwide Pop-Ups at Topshop This Holiday Season
Kylie Jenner’s booming $420-billion makeup empire Kylie Cosmetics is upping its retail reach in anticipation of the upcoming holiday shopping season. On Thursday, Jenner announced that the brand would be partnering with Topshop for seven holiday pop-up shops around the country, via a short video clip on social media. Until now, Kylie Cosmetics has been a purely direct-to-consumer brand, selling online via its own website. Via fashionista.com
7 retailers doing the most holiday hiring
Americans who are looking for a job over the holidays may be in luck: Retailers are ramping up seasonal hiring this year. They’re potentially hiring in greater volume this holiday season, hinting that they expect a busy shopping season, according to new research from Indeed.com. Employers typically start posting jobs in September, although this year they began right after Labor Day. Via cbsnews.com
Holiday jobs shifting from stores to warehouses
Companies that need more holiday help amid the tightest retail labor market in more than 10 years are rethinking their hiring surge, with some giving more hours to existing workers or paying overtime instead of loading up on new hires. The unemployment rate in the Orlando metro area is under 4%. Nationally, jobs openings are at the highest in recent history, with more than 6 million positions unfilled, Federal Reserve bank statistics show. Via orlandosentinel.com
LET’S CONNECT