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This holiday season, shifting shopping demographics and motivations are opening opportunities for businesses to connect with customers in new and meaningful ways. Drawing from the results of its 12th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey, Accenture reports that during the holidays, Millennials are expected to lead an uptick in spending, and retailers’ inclusion and diversity practices will play an important role in their purchasing decisions.

Survey results reveal that Americans will spend $658 on holiday shopping this year, on average, compared with $632 in the 2017 survey—almost nine in 10 respondents said they plan to spend as much (53 percent) or more than (36 percent) than they did last year. Older Millennials will spend $779, on average, and 49 percent of younger Millennials—compared to 13 percent of Baby Boomers—plan to spend more this holiday season.

Accenture’s research found that retailers’ inclusion and diversity policies regarding age, gender, ethnicity and disability, are factoring into Millennial shoppers’ decisions. According to the survey, 54 percent of younger Millennials surveyed believe that retailers have a responsibility and duty toward addressing wider social and political issues with regards to diversity, and that 51 percent of younger Millennials are more likely to shop at a retailer that demonstrates awareness of such issues. The survey also shows that Millennials are more likely to choose one brand over another if that brand demonstrates inclusion and diversity in terms of its promotions and offers (cited by 70 percent of younger Millennial respondents and 69 percent of older Millennials); their in-store experience (66 percent of younger and 72 percent of older Millennials), their product range (68 percent of younger and 70 percent of older Millennials), and their environmental awareness (61 percent of younger and 57 percent of older Millennials). Also, 31 percent of younger Millennials see diversity in the workplace, with regards to staffing, as an important attribute when it comes to deciding where to shop.

“Our research suggests that the Millennial generation has high expectations when it comes to retailers’ commitment to inclusion and diversity, and those values are influencing their decision-making in choosing one brand over another,” says Jill Standish, senior managing director and head of Accenture’s Retail practice. “National and multinational retailers serve diverse customer bases, so they need to position the brand accordingly—its messaging as well as its product selection. That will require not just more local decision-making, but also assistance from analytics tools that enable retailers to build a granular picture of their customers.”

Accenture reports that consumers appear less concerned with the economy and their overall financial situation than they were last year—with one-third less likely (15 percent, versus 23 percent last year) to cite “a concern about the economy” as a factor negatively affecting their holiday shopping this year. They were also less likely to cite “healthcare costs,” “mortgage payments,” “the prospect of higher taxes,” and “a recent job loss or the fear of losing their job.” Accenture suggests that this could be one reason why fewer shoppers plan to take advantage of retailers’ cost-savings programs or benefits— such as loyalty programs, on-the-spot competitor price-matching, special e-mail offers, Amazon Prime Day and deal sites such as Groupon or Living Social.

Also on the rise in this year’s survey are service and/or “experience” gift-buying. The research identified a growing trend away from product gifts such as toys, clothes and household appliances and toward “experience” gifts such as travel, dining out, concerts and the theatre, as well as toward “services” gifts such as lawncare, home cleaning and spa treatments. In fact, the number of shoppers who said they plan to buy physical products as gifts this year dropped 11 percentage points from last year, to 73 percent, and the number who said they planned to buy experience or service gifts increased five percentage points, to 49 percent.

HanesBrands is donating nearly 350,000 pairs of underwear, socks and t-shirts to assist victims of flooding from Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas and the Southeast. It is doing so in partnership with nonprofit charity Delivering Good to distribute essential basic apparel valued at more than $2 million to storm and flood victims who have endured relocation, lost homes, power outages and other hardships. HanesBrands participates in the promotional products industry as supplier Hanes/Champion (PPAI 191138).

“HanesBrands and its employees are longtime supporters of those in need in the aftermath of natural disasters here and around the world,” says Chris Fox, HanesBrands vice president of corporate social responsibility. “We know that victims of natural disasters have a tremendous need for the basics in life, including shelter, food, water and clothing. We are happy that we can assist in the long road to recovery after Hurricane Florence.”

The Hanes, Champion, Maidenform, and Playtex apparel is being shipped from the company’s distribution centers in Gastonia, Kings Mountain, Rural Hall and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and near Martinsville, Virginia.

Delivering Good, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit relief charity that helps the apparel industry aid those in need, will arrange for the apparel donated by HanesBrands to go to relief agencies in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

In the past decade, HanesBrands has donated more than five million items of clothing under its Hanes For Good corporate social responsibility philanthropy efforts to assist natural disaster victims in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Japan and elsewhere.

The latest list of tariffs, the third imposed as part of the federal government's Section 301 investigation of China’s trade practices, currently does not have a process for companies to request exclusions. This is inconsistent with the U.S. Trade Representative’s previous two tariff lists under the investigation.

If applied to this third tariff list, the previously established exclusion process would provide U.S. companies opportunities to request relief if the tariffs would harm their ability to compete globally. In some cases, there are no alternative suppliers who offer the products many businesses are sourcing from China. 

A group of U.S. House Representatives are circulating a letter addressed to the USTR, urging it to initiate an exclusion process applicable to the third tranche of the Section 301 tariffs. The group is asking colleagues to sign the letter. PPAI urges members to contact their House Representativesand ask them to sign on the letter currently being circulated.

As the tariffs extend into products imported and sold by companies in the promotional products industry, PPB Newslink has reached out to company leaders to ask how they are responding; how they are communicating with their vendors and customers; and for their outlook on the future.

“We’ve been preparing for tariffs on Chinese imports for a long time,” says Ben Zhang, CEO of supplier Greater China Industries in Bellevue, Washington. “I first heard about the idea in 2008, while enrolled in Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management executive education program, and I’ve been thinking about what to do about tariffs ever since. We’ve diversified away from China some and now have sources in Cambodia and Vietnam. With the new tariffs, we will develop more manufacturing outside China. Taiwan and South Korea are more expensive than China, but with the tariffs in some categories they are competitive. So we’re exploring our options."

Despite the tariffs, China will continue to be an important source of imports. Zhang says, “We still get about 80 percent of our products from China. Six to 12 months from now, it will likely be 60 to 40 percent. Some products from China are just not replaceable, and even with tariffs, some product categories remain competitive. Not just in price, but in time and speed. China is more efficient in terms of manufacturing speed, and the infrastructure, like airports and seaports, is there."

The third round of tariffs went into effect on September 24, and they’re already having an impact on industry companies. The federal government is levying 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports through the end of the year, going up to 25 percent on January 1, 2019. Zhang says, “For us, this will affect about 100 shipments by the end of the year. We’ve been in communication with our clients and about 90 percent understand the issue, and know it’s something none of us can do anything about.

“Our business model isn’t about selling commodities. We sell custom products, created from scratch for end-users’ campaigns. Our products come from our customers’ imaginations. There are already costs associated with tooling, molds, etcetera, so with these products, bringing them from concepts to reality, they’re not as sensitive to these price increases as others might be.”

Zhang adds, “I spoke to our congressman, Adam Smith, over the weekend and asked him what we can do as small-business owners to keep costs the same. He said to write letters and join with others to take our message to the White House.”