This Thanksgiving, more web merchants are taking a longer view of online Christmas shopping driven by more targeted promotions and personalization, says a new study of 92 retailers from ecommerce and artificial applications developer Coveo.

While 84% of retailers feel that consumers can get deals anytime they want (48% strongly agree, 36% somewhat agree), the majority (58%) of retailers surveyed strongly believe that holiday events are still a powerful source of revenue, according to Coveo.

“Retailers poised for the most success this holiday season understand that Black Friday is not just about capitalizing on buzz,” says Lisa Grayston, Coveo general manager of commerce at Coveo. “It’s about deliberate, hyper-personalized, and focused strategies that reach and entice each shopper wherever they are on their journey. Experimentation is also key as generative AI has been gaining ground — and may become the next big pillar of relevance and conversational search in commerce as we look to the future of shopping.”

Key takeaways from Coveo holiday sales data

Black Friday and Cyber Monday can still produce powerful results when done right.

High-performing retailers have differing goals for holiday promotions. 60% want to increase average transaction values as compared to 35% for lower performing retailers.

The vast majority of retailers agree that shoppers will continue to take advantage of special event promotions using personalization to increase profitability. In fact, 90% of respondents say that hyper-personalized offers are already happening, moving from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” capability.

Getting the basics right is critical during holiday peaks. More than 50% of high-performing retailers tout the importance of: easy returns, price or product availability, and social proof badging. Also, 55% of high performers say they expect to shift more than 41% of their sales value toward online shopping and fulfillment during Black Friday.

High-performing retailers are fine-tuning loyalty-building experiences. Nearly two-thirds of high performers, as opposed to 35% of average/underperformers, are extending the return period during the holiday season.

When it comes to technology, planning is key. More than half (52%) of retailers say they will have implemented generative AI in their contact center. Similarly, 52% will have implemented some automated capabilities in anticipation of increased call center volume this holiday season.

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