As the holiday shopping season nears, many businesses are looking forward to big sales to propel them into the new year with confidence. However, a new study by The Conference Board Consumer Research Center that was released on November 9 indicates these companies may not be able to exceed their expectations with sales growth alone.
“With the overwhelming majority of consumers expecting to spend the same or less than they did last year, it’s not surprising that they expect a large share of their purchases to be on sale or discounted,” Lynn Franco, the agency’s director, said in a press release.
According to the study, less than 10 percent of consumers say they will be spending more this year on holiday gifts. More troubling was the 40 percent of respondents who said they would temper their spending compared to what they shelled out in 2010.
In addition, online businesses – and companies with strong internet services – may benefit the most from the season’s spending. Roughly 66 percent of survey takers said they would purchase a portion of their gifts online, while 15 percent indicated that they planned to increase the amount of purchases they make through this platform.
As a result, businesses that want to increase their net profits may want to embrace cost-saving solutions that could help them weather a potentially weak season. For example, by switching to VoIP business phones, companies could cut their communications cost and increase the capabilities of their customer and client support personnel.
To find out more about the benefits of VoIP, businesses may want to speak to an internet provider that can help with consultation and installation before making their switch to a VoIP telephony service.
However, a new study by The Conference Board Consumer Research Center that was released on November 9 indicates these companies may not be able to exceed their expectations with sales growth alone.
