Tips and tools for retailers – featured resources
New ideas and resources for retailers rethinking their holiday 2020 planning and marketing approaches.
Shop Early, Shop Safe campaign and video launched across Canada to offer holiday shopping tips to Canadians in a COVID era
We know that all retailers are working hard to adjust to a COVID era holiday season with strategies to encourage shoppers into shopping early, ensuring packages arrive on-time and long lines can be prevented at store.
RCC has launched a consumer-focused campaign, including a video, to get the word out that we want shoppers to shop early and shop safely this holiday season.
Check out our resources including posters and collateral you can use to encourage the Shop Early, Shop Safe message in your retail environment both in store and online.

RCC Holiday Shopping Survey 2020
The ongoing uncertainty brought on by the pandemic has made Canadians less structured in their approach to planning and budgeting for holiday shopping. This comprehensive report details how consumers plan to shop this holiday season.

5 things Canadian retailers need to know about the most digital holiday shopping season on record
There’s a lot we don’t know about what this year’s holiday shopping season will bring, but we do know it will be a year like no other. Google outlines what Canadian businesses continue to navigate the pandemic, regional restrictions and changing consumer needs.

The Holiday Hustle: How Retailers Can Save the Season from BCG
As we head into the holidays, a second wave of COVID-19 is fuelling a spike of cases across much of the world. Boston Consulting Group examines how the current health landscape has affected consumer behaviour and trends.

2020 Canada holiday Outlook by PWC Canada
PwC has developed this year’s holiday retail spending forecast to help retailers prepare, given this widespread uncertainty.

Google Canadian Data: Five Truths for Holiday 2020
Based on Canadian retail data, Google and RCC have put together tips on how to prepare your retail business for the most eComm-driven holiday on record.

Facebook IQ Holiday, Unwrapped Marketing Guide
Learn how people expect to celebrate and shop this holiday season. Filter, find and share shopping insights from Facebook’s 31-market consumer research. Filled with creative examples of how retailers can use Facebook’s tools to drive business this holiday.
eCommerce resources, digital insights, new perspectives and case studies to help you plan for an unprecedented holiday season.

How the pandemic may affect holiday shopping
Google surveyed global consumers to better understand how the coronavirus pandemic will impact their holiday shopping. Here’s how people plan to shop differently this year.

How Retailers Can Win This Holiday from Jackman Insights
Shopping habits have changed this year, but consumers still want to give gifts. Learn how retailers can align with changing customer needs and values to make this holiday season a hit.

Google’s 2020 Retail Guide
Suggestions for retailers that are helpful all year long, and beginning on page 27 special tips on driving sales during the Holidays.

Global holiday shoppers surveyed who use mobile to make purchases have grown from 2018 to 2019 (chart shows percentage of growth for each demographic).
23% of shoppers start looking for gift ideas three to six months prior to the holidays.
54% of holiday shopping remains to be completed after Black Friday/Cyber Monday week.
21% of holiday shopping is completed during the week of Christmas and the week after Christmas.
More articles and resources
- Black Friday: Time to breathe new life into the retail stalwart (IPSOS)
Tim Denison takes us on a tour of the history of this prominent date in the retail calendar and outlines how retailers can best steer safe passage through these dark, dysphoric and dramatic days. Read more
- Fundamental Shifts in Holiday Shopping Habits of Canadians Accelerate (Deloitte)
Our annual holiday retail spending outlook explores the shopping behaviours, attitudes, and preferences of Canadian consumers that retailers need to know about during the upcoming holiday season. Read more - Google 30 Day Peak Season Guide (Google)
Uncover new opportunities to improve your website and reach customers. Read more - The Upcoming Holiday Retail Season in the Context of 2020 (PwC)
Economic uncertainty, the acceleration of digital commerce, and an October Prime Day will make this holiday retail season unlike any other. According to social listening data, messaging from both brands and retailers will need to be sensitive this year. Read more - Holiday peak deliver rush expected more significant that ever (Radial)
Radial US research found 41% of shoppers said they don’t plan to shop any earlier for holiday gifts this year and 60% of consumers plan to shop less in-store this season due to fear of COVID-19 exposure. Read more
- Your 2020 Holiday Retail Strategy & Planning Guide (Salesforce)
The 2020 holiday shopping season will make history. Not because of record-breaking sales or achieving predictions made in the pre-COVID era, but because it will look so different from seasons past. Read more
- Is Black Friday Dead? Not Just Yet (Shopify)
Whether 2020’s holiday shopping season will mimic those numbers is anyone’s guess. What’s clear is that the pandemic has caused a lot of uncertainty around what Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) will look like this year. Read more
- Online Shopping During COVID-19 Exceeds 2019 Holiday Season Levels (Adobe)
Consumers in the United States have shifted a significant part of their shopping online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to our May 2020 Digital Economy Index (DEI), which tracks the state of e-commerce. Read more
- COVID-19 and the 2020 Online Holiday Shopping Season (Finch Advertising)
Recovery worldwide is predicted to be slow. And what will happen next is a moving target as far as its impact and consumer reactions. Read more
- Strategic Partnerships Can Help Small Business Increase Sales This Holiday Season (Chad Thiele)
In a normal year, partnering with another business to help acquire new customers is a great idea. However, this isn’t a normal year… Read more