Promotional Strategy

After a rollercoaster year, we've arrived at the 2023 holiday season. With economic fluctuations and unpredictable shopper trends, forecasting consumer behavior is more challenging than ever before. That’s why ShipStation compiled insights from over 8,000 shoppers and businesses around the globe to help merchants understand consumers’ most up-to-date needs and how they can fulfill them…

Levi Strauss & Co, makers of the iconic jeans, faced some pretty serious belt-tightening earlier this year. In April, the company announced that “escalating costs of freight, labor and cotton, as well as lingering supply chain disruptions” and “bloated inventory” were decimating margins. The market was quick to respond, with shares dropping 16 percent that…

Shoppers are feeling the crunch. Analysts are anticipating just a minor bump in spending as we close out the year with interest rates and prices continuing to climb. Factor in the deluge of discounts and offers available to consumers — plus the expansion of omnichannel options for anytime, anywhere shopping — and winning wallet share…

Following Amazon.com's Prime Big Deal Days, all eyes will be on the performance of the company. The 2022 Big Deal event didn’t generate the same amount of buzz as that year’s July Prime Day, as shoppers placed smaller orders and purchased lower-priced items, with inflation being cited as a major factor for shoppers. This year’s…

This week saw Amazon.com host its second Prime Day sale of 2023. The two-day sale event, which is exclusively for Prime members, is viewed by many as the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. How did this most recent sale event compare to its predecessor in July, as well as year-over-year? Numerator, the consumer…

As inflation persists, consumers are continuing to be cautious and experience stress. Financial reports from large retailers indicate a transition from discretionary spending to a focus on essential needs, an indicator of monetary strains among consumers. A New York Times article, “U.S. Consumers Are Showing Signs of Stress, Retailers Say,” notes that despite the resilience of…

In 2023, a prevailing theme that has ensnared retailers is the phenomenon of consumer behavior. Both sentiment and spending have been unstable, leading business leaders through a whirlwind of changing strategies based on predictions that never quite came to fruition. Economists collectively anticipated that an impending economic downturn would dissuade consumers from depleting their savings.…

Amazon.com did it again. Prime Day, which took place for 48 hours on July 11 and 12, generated record sales and a 6 percent year-over-year increase, wooing customers with steep discounts. With inflation hitting customers this year, a lot of retailers are looking to Prime Day to help guide their own discounting approach for the holiday…

Consumer shopping behavior is changing. Because of an uncertain economic environment and record-high prices, today’s consumers are changing where they shop, when they shop, and how they shop to save money. They're more reliant on existing tactics like loyalty programs and expanding the set of technological tools they use such as digital coupons, cashback rewards…

Today’s shopper behavior is changing faster than ever before. Typically, shopper behavior changes are slow and steady – like making course corrections on a big ship. However, with the highest inflation in 40 years, we are seeing material changes in shopping habits on a much shorter timeline. The Why Behind Price Increases The average shopping…