With 10 Shopping Days Till Christmas, Consumers’ Delivery Expectations Are Unbending

10…  9….   8….   Who doesn’t love the drama of a good countdown clock — which, in the parlance of NASA, now stands at T minus 10 days and counting.

That is, of course, referring to the Christmas countdown clock, a contrivance that is not only anxiety-provoking for both children and adults (albeit for different reasons), but also available digitally online for free, or for sale in 1,000 different bookshelf or wall-mounted varieties — many of which Amazon still says can be delivered in time for the big day.

While casting no judgment on the belated purchasing of a calendar that would have only 20% of its useful life left in it by the time it arrived, the product is not the point here.

The product — any product — is the premise. Consumer expectations have not bent one bit, and months of warnings and pleas and earlier-than-ever holiday shopping sales have done little to front-load our purchasing — and, in turn, have re-gifted that procrastination as a logistical present to the nation’s retailers that are scrambling to deliver. 

“Consumers aren’t cutting retailers any slack this holiday season,” said Khaled Naim, the CEO of San Francisco-based final mile delivery firm Onfleet, which has powered over 100 million deliveries in 80 countries. But as much as consumers are aware of supply chain issues, he said their expectation for fast and timely delivery is intact, forging a reality that is both a challenge and an opportunity. 

“There is no shortage of stories about the supply chain delays and impact on retailers, but shoppers have grown to expect to receive their purchases fast regardless,” Naim told PYMNTS, pointing out that while “the Amazon model” may have set this mindset in motion 20 years ago, many other retailers have since joined the chorus — either by choice or necessity.

“The new players in quick-commerce coming out of the pandemic have reinforced how important it is for retailers to have a long-term delivery strategy that takes consumers’ expectations into account, or else [they’re] risking market share to competitors that are,” he said.

All About Logistics

Whether it’s Christmas gifts, groceries or dinner, the delivery and logistics juggernaut has never been tighter, to the point where a merchant’s ability to quickly fulfill an order is now often the deciding factor in a purchase.

“Inventory-based decisions are more important than ever,” said Zohar Gilad, CEO of Fast Simon, a California-based eCommerce optimization startup. “Due to supply chain snafus and customers’ constant demands, brand loyalty is dropping as buyers weigh the speed of purchase over labels.”

As Gilad sees it, advanced technologies, such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI) for search, merchandising and personalization, are now “givens for retailers” that are looking to drive business efficiencies and modernize their selling strategies.

“What is unique now, given the work/labor dynamics and decreasing tenure of [retail] employees, is how quickly retailers can get people up to speed on systems and get technology implemented — before someone leaves,” he said, adding that applications designed as self-serve and with a quick time-to-market are going to win.

Involuntary Procrastination

As much as consumers have been warned and even begged to shop early — in some cases since Halloween — PYMNTS data show that with the end of federal government stimulus checks combined with the bite of inflation at a 40-year high, nearly 60% of U.S. households are now living paycheck to paycheck, and simply don’t have the cash on hand or credit available to go out and shop when they want.

Also see: Inflation, Disappearing Stimulus Payments Push Paycheck to Paycheck Consumer Ranks Higher

Put another way, that data suggest that many consumers may not have put off their shopping because they wanted to, but because they had to.

As much as these cusp consumers would like to have all their shopping and shipping done and paid for, they simply have had to wait for the next payday in order to make it happen. At that point, with the Christmas countdown clock on 7 this Friday, the decision-making will be brisk — and driven almost exclusively by product availability and delivery options rather than choice.