Consumer Behavior

COVID-19 driving more holiday shoppers online

Photo by istock.com

November 17, 2020

The ongoing coronarivus pandemic is prompting a big wave of consumers to shop online and 52% expect they will never shop in person again at the holiday season.

That's a prime finding of a 97th Floor study regarding Black Friday and holiday shopping trends that polled 1,000 U.S. shoppers, according to a press release.

"The results confirmed our expectations while introducing new factors into 2020's holiday shopping experience," 97th Floor CEO Paxton Gray said in the release. "Nearly every retail business has high hopes for the holiday season sales bump this year, but this year will be unlike any before. There's a lot marketers can do to create systems that allow for quick pivots and increased revenue this holiday season."

Highlights include:

• 68% of shoppers say they plan to do most of their shopping online this year because of COVID-19.
• 48% of shoppers worry more about having a holiday package stolen from their doorstep than catching COVID-19.
• 81% of shoppers say that even if retailers offer great in-store experiences for the holidays, they're still not sure they'd want to shop in person.
• Only 20% say they're definitely in "a shopping mood" this holiday season.
• 30% of retailers are hurting financially, but 73% of shoppers plan to spend as much or less as last season.