Forecast: 10% growth for holiday ecomm

Look for more holiday shoppers to hit the digital space for gifts, party preps, and other holiday fare. That's the word from NetElixir's 2017 Holiday Forecast, and while a 10% increase is slightly lower than 2016 numbers, merchants should still fare well.

by Kristina Knight

Despite the fact that overall merchants will see more shoppers, the forecast believes there may not be large revenue increases, due in part to the fact that digital merchants tend to discount heavily during the holiday period. The researchers also note that many merchants will have to deal with 'The Amazon Factor' - more shoppers turning to Amazon's Prime option, and deeper discounts from Amazon which merchants will have to overcome.

"With Amazon continuing to play a huge role in ecommerce consolidation, retailers need to prioritize ecommerce in order to stay competitive during the holiday shopping season," said Udayan Bose, founder and CEO of NetElixir. "There are also some expected consumer behaviors that retailers can leverage, like the higher percentage of consumers who will make last-minute purchases before Christmas. We also found that post-Christmas purchases, otherwise known as "me buys," are going to experience a substantial increase this year, giving retailers an opportunity to reap some of their losses from the holiday period."

Other interesting findings from the forecast include:

• 34% of holiday ecommerce is expected to go to Amazon
• 35% of holiday ecommerce is expected to come from mobile devices
• Look for shipping to play a part in where people shop.

Tags: 2017 holiday forecast, ecommerce, holiday shopping trends, NetElixir, online shopping trends