Most US business leaders expect increased holiday sales

Business leaders are more optimistic this holiday sales season, than last year, and are increasing investment in digital marketing to capture young consumers.

That's according to a survey from Fiverr International Ltd which polled 1,000 consumers and 500 small to medium business leaders in a nationwide poll.

Marketing investment is up overall compared to last year — over 40% of business leaders plan to increase investment in either partnerships with other brands (46%), updated product pages/SEO (41%), or email marketing (48%).

Additional findings include:

• 38% of business leaders said staffing shortages were a concern this holiday season.
• Over half (55%) of business leaders plan on using AI tools to expedite work.
• 46% of business leaders said inflation impacting sales was among the greatest challenges they would confront this holiday season, compared to only 37% in 2022.
• Over half (51%) of business leaders said supply chain disruptions and inventory shortages would also be among the greatest challenges they anticipate their business will encounter, an increase from 43% last year.
• However, 84% of business leaders expect sales to increase1 this year, with close to a third (32%) saying they expected sales to increase "significantly."
• Over half (55%) of business leaders said they plan to offer steeper discounts this year than last year. Among the business leaders who said they would offer steeper discounts, 43% said they would be between 25-40% off.
• 57% of consumers said good deals and discounts were a priority when it comes to holiday shopping.
• Close to 70% (69%) of business leaders said they expect 21-40% of holiday earnings to come from major shopping days, such as Black Friday.
• 32% of consumers plan to spend more this year than last year. This number was even higher among younger shoppers, especially millennials, 47% of whom said they planned to spend more.
• 20% of US consumers plan to find gifts on TikTok Shop — this was higher among Gen Z, with 37% reporting planning to find gifts via the platform.
• 19% of consumers plan to find gifts via influencer recommendations, and 28% plan to look at Instagram/Facebook ads.
• But most shoppers are still headed to the mall: 60% of US shoppers plan to look for gifts in-store.

This survey was conducted in partnership with Censuswide.