4 out of 5 retailers believe holidays will be better

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Early and optimistic are two words that sum up retailers’ attitudes toward the 2015 holiday season, according to new retailer survey conducted by ChannelAdvisor.

ChannelAdvisor surveyed more than 200 e-commerce decision-makers at U.S. and U.K retailers to gain insight into holiday promotional activities and the outlook for sales. One key finding is that retailers are an optimistic lot with 80% expecting sales to be higher this year that last year.

The growth could be due in part to the fact that nearly 60% of respondents plan to start their holiday promotions in September or sooner, and almost a quarter  of respondents are planning to offer more holiday promotions than last year.

“Retailers continue to push holiday sales earlier and earlier to get in front of the competition,” said ChannelAdvisor Executive Chairman Scot Wingo. “We’ve seen larger retailers kick off their holiday promotions as early as July. It will be interesting to see if consumers respond to early holiday promotions again this year and get out their wallets before Thanksgiving.”

As for some of this season’s biggest challenges, 34% of respondents said fulfilling orders on time is their biggest challenge, followed by adjusting to competitor activity at 27% and converting mobile traffic at 19%.

More details on the survey results are available by clicking here.