Better get your email campaign into place: It’s going to be an ecommerce Christmas.

U.S. consumers are so worried about COVID-19 that 62% say “no amount” of safety measures will persuade them to shop in stores this Black Friday, according to a study by Emarsys. 

Indeed, only 4% plan to shop in stores, and 28% will do their holiday buying entirely online.

Despite safety measures, only 14% say social distancing will persuade them to visit stores, and only 10% would be convinced by contactless pay. 

Still, 19% will be willing to shop in-store if the discounts beat those offered online.  

But the switch to online shopping may have its benefits.  

“There are positives to a predominantly digital Black Friday,” states Sara Richter, CMO at Emarsys. 

For one, “ecommerce provides the perfect opportunity to gather and analyze customer data so retailers can retarget customers with personalized offers — turning potential one-off customers into loyal and profitable ones,” Richter adds.  

But Richter warns that “the planning needs to start now. Retailers must ensure they have their website, apps, and backend technology infrastructure up to scratch, first so there are no glitches on the day, and second so they can capitalize on gathering customer data.” 

Richter notes that, “after Black Friday, they can use this customer data to drive real business outcomes with personalized targeting over Cyber Monday and Christmas.”