It’s that time of year when the crystal balls come out for both the Christmas and holiday sales season but predictions are like opinions, everyone’s got one. So we wanted to hear what retailers and CG companies were really feeling heading into the peak period. Against a backdrop of inflationary pressures and the rising cost of living, our research sheds light on how businesses are responding and preparing for what has traditionally been the busiest and most profitable months of the year. With Black Friday coming up this week, let’s take a look…

While there was some global variation in optimism, overall businesses are anticipating a challenging peak season,

with 65% concerned about their financial performance and a third expecting lower margins.

Macro issues are expected to directly impact profitability with consumer spending topping the list of respondents’ concerns, closely followed by disrupted supply chains and inventory challenges. To tackle these issues more than three quarters will be getting involved in promotion events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and over half say they’ll be bigger than in previous years.

But the majority of businesses think that sales pricing is more complex this year (79%) and despite the importance of peak season and the challenge of getting peak pricing right,

40% will be managing their pricing manually or don’t know exactly what their approach will be.

It’s difficult to know exactly how the next few months will play out. Pricing promotions during peak can be a huge draw for customers, but to really make the most of them, businesses will need to be sure that they have the ability to execute their pricing strategy, and quickly pivot to respond to consumer demand, all the while protecting margin and profits.

Everyone’s hope is for the retail and consumer goods industries to get through this period in good shape but with 2023 looking just as unpredictable, pricing automation should be at the top of every business’s Christmas list to ease the pressure and deliver a prosperous new year.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc and research was conducted between 12 and 21 October 2022.