Retailers Need Digital Experience Optimization This Holiday Season

As peak seasonal shopping continues, global consumers are seeking to capitalize on deals. This year's holiday shopping season is expected to see an increase in digital transactions compared to previous years, partially due to rising cost of living. Therefore, shoppers are hoping to take advantage of the best deals to help their dollar go further.

This season we’ll see a holiday shopping surge — marked by higher online traffic and mobile app users. This influx is one the most critical opportunities to attract new customers and boost end-of-year sales numbers, but retailers should be on high alert. Consumers are eager to shop online, but they're also more unforgiving if they encounter a disappointing digital experience.

To navigate this holiday season, it's critical retailers ensure their IT teams are equipped to optimize application availability and performance.

Shoppers’ High Expectations This Festive Season

In a recent Cisco AppDynamics survey of 12,000 global consumers, we found there’s a significant shift toward online shopping anticipated this holiday season compared to 2022.

According to the research, 43 percent of consumers plan to conduct more of their holiday shopping through digital platforms this year, in contrast to the 13 percent expecting to decrease their online shopping. This preference for online vs. in-store shopping is driven by the thought that it allows for better budget management (48 percent of consumers), offers a broader range of choices (42 percent), and helps avoid last-minute panic buying in physical stores (31 percent).

Consumers seeking convenience and efficiency are opting for online platforms to avoid lengthy, day-long holiday shopping outings. A notable 20 percent of consumers shared they will engage in more online shopping this year simply because it allows them to shop during standard working hours.

This means brands are presented with a massive opportunity to grow sales during this pivotal period. In the U.S., where Black Friday online spending reached $9.12 billion last year, a 20 percent uptick could signify a potential increase of more than $1 billion in consumer spending alone.

Consumers Need More Than Deals and Promotions

Retailers should expect to offer more than just deals and promotions, however. While shoppers appreciate low prices, they also expect a seamless, no-hassle experience. Even if a retailer is offering an unbeatable deal, 66 percent of consumers say there's no excuse for a poor online shopping experience.

With consumers becoming more sophisticated digital services users, expectations continue to rise exponentially. The reality is, when consumers encounter problems — whether it’s slow-loading pages, payment issues, downtime — they’re less likely to "forgive and forget." More than half (58 percent) of consumers claim retailers only have one shot to impress them this holiday season, and if their application experience isn’t up to their expectations, they won’t use it again.

How Should Retailers Prepare? Visibility

A seamless experience means quick response times, no outages or "we’re experiencing higher traffic than expected" warning messages. Retailers should be entering the holiday season with confidence that their platforms can withstand any major spikes in online traffic, even though this is often easier said than done.

Online environments are becoming increasingly complex, especially if your IT team is managing a variety of systems and software — from the front-end site and point-of-sale system through the supply chain to fulfillment and logistics. Having clear visibility up and down your tech stack is a critical component in ensuring your digital platforms run smoothly and to swiftly troubleshoot anything that goes wrong.

My advice for retailers? Consumers are ready to shop this holiday season. Don’t let a bad experience impact your ability to convert a sale. It’s up to you to invest in the right solutions that can give you the assurance you need this holiday season.

Joe Byrne is CTO advisor at Cisco Observability. His primary focus is on working with customers and prospects on observability strategy and helping with digital transformations.