With a few days to go, reports continue to arrive indicating the retail industry is heading for record holiday sales. Here, the latest holiday insights around online selling, last-minute procrastinators, returns, BOPIS demand, millennial gifting and more.

 (12/20/18): Adobe: Online Holiday Sales Breaking Records Through December 19

Based on Adobe Analytics data, a record $110.6 billion was spent online by the end of December 19th (since November 1), an increase of 17.8 percent year-over-year – making it the biggest online shopping period of all time in the U.S. and beating last year’s record by $16.7 billion. Mobile transactions soared to $33.3 billion of sales coming from smartphones alone (50 percent share), representing the highest ever with a year-over-year growth of 57.0 percent, and the first holiday season with over half of visits (58.3 percent) coming from mobile devices.

Taylor Schreiner, director, Adobe Digital Insights, said, “Weary holiday shoppers continue to look for alternatives to crowded stores, long lines and empty shelves in the final push to Christmas. Retailers who can offer the easiest shopping experience, whether through excellent use of data to anticipate shoppers’ needs or by providing an option for picking up products at brick-and-mortar stores, are the ones people are flocking to this week. With a record 47 percent growth in Buy Online Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)  purchases, retailers need to impress consumers in both the real and virtual worlds.”

(12/20/18): KPMG:  Lots Of Shopping To Do With Christmas Just Five Days Away

Nearly one-third of consumers still have up to half of their holiday shopping left to do, with only five shopping days remaining, according to a survey by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm. According to the survey of more than 1,000 consumers taken on December 11-12, 32 percent reported to have 25 to 49 percent of their shopping left to do this year, while 37 percent of holiday shoppers still have up to 24 percent of their shopping to finish. The majority (59 percent) of the holiday shopping left will be done both online and in-store; 15 percent of consumers will do the rest of their shopping only online.

“As we get down to the last few holiday shopping days, consumers focus on convenience, including last minute delivery, and personalized products and services,” said Mark Larson, national leader of KPMG’s Consumer & Retail practice.

(12/19/18): UPS: Holiday Gift Returns Spiking Pre-Christmas For First Time

The peak volume of holiday returns for the first time has arrived before Christmas, according to UPS’ “National Returns Day” study. UPS said it expected to ship and process a record 1.5 million returned packages on Wednesday, December 19, dubbing the day, “National Returns Day.” In years past, returns have spiked as the new year began.

“Consumers who got a jump on online shopping in the days before Black Friday are expected to begin returning more than 1 million packages each day in December, jumpstarting the holiday returns season earlier than ever,” said UPS in a statement. “The spike is driven by self-gifting due to retailer promotions, express shipping for deliveries and returns, simplified returns processes and advanced re-stocking and management systems.”

(12/19/18): NRF: Procrastinators Rush To Meet Holiday Deadline

More than 40 percent of holiday shoppers surveyed expected to finish their holiday gift shopping by December 19, but the biggest procrastinators will still be buying gifts through Christmas Eve, according to the annual consumer sentiment survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey, conducted from December 3 to 12, found that  56 percent of holiday shoppers – about 134 million people, up from 126 million last year – plan to shop this weekend on “Super Saturday,” the last Saturday before Christmas.

Of consumers who had completed half or less of their shopping, 44 percent said they were still deciding what to buy, up from 42 percent last year. Twenty-seven percent were waiting for family members to share their requests while 26 percent cited other financial priorities, 25 percent were too busy with other activities and 22 percent admitted being procrastinators.

(12/14/18): NRF: Robust November Signals Merry Holiday

November retail sales increased 5 percent unadjusted year-over-year, completing the first half of the holiday shopping season with spending on track to easily meet the National Retail Federation’s forecast. NRF’s forecast predicts that holiday retail sales during November and December will increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over the same period in 2017.

“Consumers have the capacity and confidence to spend this holiday season,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said, citing the influence of stronger employment, improved wages, tax cuts and increased net worth. “This is a good start to the holiday season and consistent with our outlook. Consumer spending remains solid and clearly provides evidence that the economy is healthy as we head into 2019.”

(11/18/18): GPShopper: Shoppers Seeking BOPIS To Reduce Holiday Stress

A majority (67 percent) of those interested in using tech in-store are interested in buying online and picking-up in-store to ease their shopping experience this year. Sixty-two percent said they would not wait in an hour-long line to purchase a gift, according to the “Holiday Shopping Experience: Immediacy as Currency” report by GPShopper. To avoid the last-minute rush and escape the stress of holiday shopping: 43 percent of holiday shoppers said they’ll purchase gifts at least a month in advance, compared to a slim 3 percent who said they’ll pay up to $50 more for rush shipping; 40 percent of holiday shoppers will give a gift card instead of purchasing gifts; 17 percent of holiday shoppers will make a gift, such as a baked good, instead of purchasing gifts; and 13 percent of holiday shoppers will buy online at a more expensive price because a gift was not available in-store.

(12/13/18): AAA: One-in-Three Americans Will Travel This Holiday Season

AAA forecasts that more than one-third of Americans will travel this holiday season. The record-breaking 112.5 million travelers taking to the nation’s runways, roads and rails for the year-end holidays represents a 4.4 percent increase over last year and the most since AAA has been tracking holiday travel. For the more than 102 million people who will pack up their cars for a holiday road trip, INRIX, a global mobility analytics company, predicts travel times in the most congested cities in the U.S. could be as much as four times longer than a normal trip.

“Tis the season for holiday travel, and more Americans than ever will journey to spend time with friends and family or choose to take a vacation,” said Bryan Shilling, managing director, AAA Travel products and services. “Strong economic growth fueled by robust consumer spending continues to drive strong demand for seasonal travel. With a record-breaking one-third of the country choosing to travel this holiday, roadways and airports are sure to be busy.”

(11/15/18): Robert Half Technology: Corporate Employees Looking To “Workshop” Over The Holiday

Nearly two-thirds of office employees (64 percent) said they planned to make online purchases from the office this season, according to a survey by staffing firm Robert Half Technology. When asked how often they expect to shop while on the clock, here’s how they responded: only on Cyber Monday: 20 percent; once a week: 35 percent; and a few times per week: 36 percent.

Over half (53 percent) of technology decision makers said they prefer employees refrain from shopping online during business hours or using a company device, even though 76 percent said their company policy allows for it.

Ryan Sutton, a district president for Robert Half Technology, said, “It’s inevitable that some employees will use work devices for personal reasons, but with proper guidance on safe browsing practices and implementation of strong security systems, risks can be mitigated.”

(12/15/18):  Money Under 30: Millennials Will Gift Themselves This Christmas

A national survey conducted by personal finance site Money Under 30 found millennials are more likely to spend more over the holiday season on themselves. Some 52 percent of millennials (ages 18 to 34) will spend more than $100 on themselves this holiday season, but only 15.7 percent were likely to spend more than $100 on gifts for others, according to the national survey of 1,000 respondents. On a positive note, millennials aren’t all grinches. Some 44.6 percent said they plan to spend $100 to $500 on presents for others while 22.54 percent plan to spend $500 to $1,000.

Image courtesy Lululemon