French brands approach the end-of-year holiday period with optimism

Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday, end-of-year holidays… the days conducive to shopping will soon follow one another! Faced with this “peak season”, it is interesting to know how brands approach these important moments. However, according to the new Shopify study, 44% of merchants in Europe say they are optimistic about the impact of the holiday season on their business. France being the 3rd most optimistic country (42%) behind Spain (51%) and Germany (47%). This European optimism for the end of the year contrasts with the more global concern which persists in the face of a difficult economic context. : 61% of merchants around the world are worried about the economic context, with Spain being the most worried country (81%) and France placing itself in 6th position (59%).

“Retail must find a balance between the inflationary context and consumers attentive to prices and the experience offered by brands. The optimism of Europeans and the French is not surprising: periods of crisis often strengthen creativity and the desire to propose new things,” explains Emilie Benoit-Vernay, Director of EMEA Partnerships at Shopify. “Europe is a very dynamic region, with innovative entrepreneurs and leaders. And if the end-of-year holiday season involves being on all fronts, merchants are actively preparing for it, by deploying strategies based on loyalty and relying on technologies such as AI.“

New products and services on the horizon

Retail must find a balance between coping with the economic situation and meeting the wants and needs of consumers. Naturally, the question of price remains central: 49% of French merchants report greater consumer sensitivity to price variations and 54% note a growing interest in promotions and discounts. At the same time, consumer appetite for more environmentally sustainable products continues to grow (47%).

In its study, Shopify looked at how merchants plan to approach the holiday season and the preferred strategies. In France, only 5% of them are not planning anything special. The five priority actions for French merchants are as follows:

• 47% plan to launch new products and services (30% globally);
• 44% plan to update their website or make changes to their store windows;
• 44% plan to implement seasonal promotions and discounts – for example: gifts, product bundles, etc. ;
• 33% plan to deploy marketing campaigns dedicated to the end-of-year holidays;
• 32% plan to increase their advertising investments during this period.

82% of French retailers cite customer loyalty and attracting new consumers as their main challenges.. And social networks are establishing themselves as essential levers both in France and globally in this area:

• In terms of customer loyalty, engagement on social networks is the first lever used by French brands (67%), followed by promotions and exclusive offers (46%), personalized marketing emails (38%);
• Organic content on social networks is the primary lever for attracting consumers, it is cited by 46% of French merchants.

Moreover, the use of social networks to generate direct sales is cited by 53% of French brands (59% worldwide).

The place of artificial intelligence in the strategies and concerns of merchants

France, Germany and Spain are the three countries that place artificial intelligence and automation most among marketing trends (35% in France compared to 31% globally and 29% in the United States). Only 14% of French merchants do not plan to use AI in their operations and activities.

In terms of uses, AI is favored by French retailers to generate content (52%), comment on product descriptions or captions on social networks, to improve product photos (37%), such as deleting background or virtual try-on, and to provide translation assistance (32%).