Coresight Research has partnered with Shopkick and Fashwire to launch the inaugural 10.10 Shopping Festival on October 9–12, 2020. The festival aims to drive online and offline consumer engagement and pull holiday shopping forward. Shopkick and Fashwire bring unique value-adding capabilities to the festival: Shopkick is an app-based platform that rewards users for their online and offline shopping activity; and Fashwire is an online fashion marketplace that connects consumers with rising fashion brands and designers.

In this report, we discuss the rationale behind launching the event, and detail some of the benefits that retailers, consumers and philanthropic organizations will reap from the festival.

What Is 10.10?

The 10.10 Shopping Festival is a US-based shopping holiday spearheaded by Coresight Research and Shopkick. The inaugural festival will take place on October 9–12, 2020, when participating retailers will offer deals and rewards to consumers through the Shopkick mobile app. The festival was inspired by the success of Singles’ Day and 6.18, China’s two biggest shopping festivals, and aims to build on the rapid growth of Amazon Prime Day in the US.

Retailers will benefit from 10.10 through increasing store traffic and pulling forward holiday shopping, with the latter designed to help alleviate supply-chain pressures against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis. Consumers will enjoy a gamified shopping experience and great deals. The festival will also include a prominent charitable aspect—consumers will be able to donate their shopping rewards to participating charities of their choice, including St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Why Launch 10.10 Now?

Coresight Research’s CEO and Founder, Deborah Weinswig, was first inspired to launch the 10.10 Shopping Festival when a large retailer voiced concerns in June about shipping capacity constraints this holiday season—which Weinswig and the Coresight Research team have since continued to hear from multiple retailers. Major logistics providers have indicated that their already strained networks will be severely tested in the months ahead, as consumers gear up to spend much more online than in previous years. Weinswig quickly realized that retailers will have to start the holiday selling season early this year to spread out shipments over time and ensure that customers receive their products on time.

Consumers also remain cautious about going back out to brick-and-mortar stores. According to a recent Coresight Research survey of US consumers, 56% of people are still avoiding going to shopping centers. 10.10 provides an opportunity to encourage consumers to return to stores, to shop safely and at excellent price points.

What Is Shopkick, and Why Did the Company Get Involved?

Shopkick is a US-based company that offers consumers rewards for both online and offline shopping activities via the Shopkick smartphone app. Shopkick’s value proposition is its ability to drive consumer engagement and action. The company can track when customers enter a store and what actions they take while they are there, enabling it to collect valuable user data for retailers and reward consumers for everything they interact with in-store.

Shopkick takes the same approach to online shopping: The company tracks consumer behavior on digital shopping platforms, including their purchases and engagement with brand-created content such as videos. The company believes that the consumer wants to be rewarded and delighted when he or she shops. Shopkick gamifies the shopping experience and awards users “kicks” (the app’s internal currency), which can be redeemed for gift cards or cashed in for donations to various charitable organizations.

[caption id="attachment_116472" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Shopkick’s mobile app
Source: Shopkick[/caption]  

Shopkick sees 10.10 as an opportunity to expand on the success of its annual “Shopper Appreciation Weekend” that it has hosted for nine consecutive years. The company positions itself as a mediator between retailers and consumers, and it is uniquely positioned to provide retailers valuable information on what consumers are looking for in today’s turbulent times. The company can also communicate important information from retailers to shoppers, such as the in-store safety measures that have been put in place and the availability of product at any given time. The company envisions 10.10 as an opportunity to drive consumers back to stores with fun, safe and rewarding shopping experiences.

What Is Fashwire, and How Is the Company Involved?

Fashwire is an online fashion-discovery and shopping marketplace. Up-and-coming fashion brands can use the platform to gather detailed consumer data from Fashwire’s demographics and activity databank as well as feedback from users’ votes on designer collections. The company now features 250 global designers on its platform. During 10.10, Fashwire will facilitate the participation of the brands on its site that choose to join the festival and will feature their sales prominently on the platform.

[caption id="attachment_116473" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Fashwire’s mobile marketplace
Source: Fashwire[/caption]  

Why Will 10.10 Succeed?

• 10.10 will drive consumer engagement and reconceptualize what it means to give a gift. The festival will enable shoppers to buy gifts for themselves and the people they love, while also giving back to the community.
• Shopkick’s gamification features will also be a key driver of sales, as consumers are becoming increasingly desensitized to overused discount techniques.
• 10.10 will play vital role in pulling holiday shopping forward and encouraging people to safely return to stores.

If you are a retailer interested in participating in the inaugural 10.10 Shopping Festival, please contact annabeller@coresight.com.