For those of us over thirty, when we think of Christmas time, we probably remember excitedly gathering around the TV as kids, mesmerised by glossy festive ads for toy shops, with seemingly endless aisles of the year’s must-haves. But digitalisation has changed everything. Now, the busiest shopping season of the year has been transformed by whole new strategies, new product families, new sales channels and – put simply – an entirely new ecosystem to which both consumers and businesses are having to adapt. But digital transformation doesn’t just affect the commercial side of Christmas… even the ways we communicate and interact with one another are changing!

The new face of shopping (and sales) thanks to digitalisation

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects slightly shrunk the global economy. But the future outlook is now on a much more positive footing. According to the latest Christmas retail survey from Deloitte using data from 2022, 67% of Spaniards were expecting their economic situation to improve – and purchasing data from the last Black Friday confirms this optimism. December is still the busiest month for Christmas shopping, but the way we do it has changed massively.

Currently, in-store purchases are still our preferred method, but a remarkable 62% of consumers now lend more importance to online shopping. In fact, 74% of them start their Christmas shopping via digital channels a little earlier than they previously would have, according to research from the marketing agency +ComunicaWeb. And this driver of change brought about by digitalisation has also affected the behaviour of retailers.

New strategies, faster channels. Digitalisation and going viral.

In the modern world, more diversified online marketing campaigns can be developed, which are designed to have an impact on YouTube, social media or micro vlogging channels, such as TikTok or Instagram. Traditional broadcasting channels are less economically accessible these days. And with more channels and more diversification, you can reach a larger audience. If you’re creative enough, you might even go viral, with a bit of luck.

New stakeholders. Digitalisation and the age of influence.

Social media has a huge role to play in sales strategies these days and, within campaigns, new profiles have emerged to help channel our buying habits and behaviours, especially among younger people. Yes, the influencers are here. These prescribers of new forms of consumption generally try to embed themselves in communities, which may be smaller in size than you’d hope to reach with traditional advertising, but they’re enormously faithful. And brands – regardless of their size – can work with influencers to reach new types of consumers.

Christmas communications have also been changed by digitalisation

Digital transformation doesn’t just affect consumer habits. Around Christmas time, we tend to miss those who aren’t physically with us and, thanks to new technologies, if we can’t be together in person, at least we can enjoy their company virtually. Nowadays, it’s nothing unusual – in fact, it’s quite common – to contact friends and family through video conferencing and similar tools using peer-to-peer technology. And Christmas will likely see an increase in this form of connectivity.

Mobility has also become a feature of modern life that simply wasn’t the case in the past. It’s no longer necessary to be “at home” to communicate with loved ones over Christmas anymore. Thanks to 5G wireless technology, you don’t have to be anywhere specific on the planet to pass on your best wishes. The digitalisation of communications will likely continue to advance, and it shouldn’t be too long until we’re even more and even better connected than we are today.