Whether you like it or not, the holidays are quickly approaching.

Yes, it's only September, but next thing you know it'll be Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Black Friday. If you're a retailer, you're already working hard strategizing for the holiday season.

Retailers are looking for any and all tips for success with the looming retail apocalypse in mind. For many retailers, improved technology and creating an online presence is the answer; that's easy to say but less easy to do. 2018 was a banner year for holiday sales, and retailers are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again.

We wanted to see how retailers are succeeding, particularly what tech they're using, so we conducted two surveys: one before the holidays and one after to see how retailers were preparing and how that preparation paid off. We compared how much retailers and customers rely on e-commerce or brick-and-mortar stores for their holiday shopping, and how technology is helping retailers drive revenue during the holidays. The surveys compared expectations to results. How did people feel going into the holidays? How did things actually play out?

We polled 400 people for each survey; 300 were retail professionals and 100 were retail consumers.