Local retailers have turned to traditional in-store special touches such as gift wrapping and promises of superior customer service to attract customers to their stores this holiday season, amid evidence of growing online shopping.
The boost in online shopping was apparent early. According to Bloomberg News, 9 million fewer U.S. residents hit retail stores searching for holiday gifts over the November Black Friday weekend, with many instead opting for online purchases. Not all local retailers are concerned, however.
Asher Schofield, owner of eclectic 17-year-old Frog and Toad LLC gift shop on Hope Street in Providence, which sells in-store and online, isn’t worried about customers shopping at home in their pajamas, or the stock market’s steady decline in recent weeks.
Just days prior to Black Friday, Schofield opened Frog and Toad’s second location – a retail space at 713 Westminster St. in Providence.
“Rhode Islanders have a prevailing sentiment that shopping local is important,” he said. Comparatively, the 2018 holiday season “feels just as brisk as it has every year preceding this one,” he said.
Schofield said he prefers customers to come in to the store to shop, offering “a unique customer service” and free gift wrapping as enticements. However, he also sells the same socks, mugs, T-shirts, jewelry, candles and gifts online.
Retailers that embrace the growth in online sales will fare best, said Paul DeRoche, executive director of the Rhode Island Retail Federation.
“Let’s be frank, online purchases are going to be the leader this Christmas,” he said.
DeRoche said some retailers try to boost store traffic by “increasing advertising [and] offering robust sales.”
He predicts 2018 will be a banner year for holiday shopping in general because of low unemployment and high consumer confidence. Combined, he said, “That’s what’s going to bring people … to make purchases. There will be a real increase in sales [compared to previous years].”
Stock Culinary Goods, a Providence purveyor of kitchen tools, cookbooks and Rhode Island-made food products; and Newport-based Anchor Toffee LLC, a toffee manufacturer with roots in Warren’s Hope & Main, are relying on Instagram to encourage in-store purchases. A recent Stock post advertised a $199 knife set available in-store and priced the same as on Amazon.com Inc. The kicker? Gift wrapping.
Katie Kelly, co-owner of Anchor Toffee, promotes in-store-only sales, where the inventory is higher than their online stock, via the company’s Instagram account. She said social media “helps” increase both in-person and online sales.
Schofield said the holiday season is a make or break time for retailers like him.
“The fourth quarter, and last week and a half of the holiday season, is everything,” he said.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, Gowdey-backus@PBN.com.
