Consumer Behavior
Retail holiday shopping window wider than ever
Photo by istock.com
October 20, 2022
The holiday shopping window is getting bigger this year as consumers are already shopping for gifts and spending more time browsing and conducting price comparisons while searching for deals.
Those are top findings from a Coresight Research annual survey, commissioned by GiftNow, that offers insight on shopper plans this holiday season, according to a press release.
Findings include:
- More than two-thirds (71%) expect inflation to negatively impact their gifting budget. Rising prices are making the majority of consumers wary about holiday gift spending. Shoppers expect to purchase around eight gifts on average, marginally lower than last year's nine, but will spend around $40 more on average, an increase of 7% year-over-year, which can be partially attributed to the rise in prices driven by inflation.
- The U.S. personal gifting market offers $72 billion in incremental opportunity over the three years leading to 2025. Coresight Research estimates the U.S. personal gifting market to grow 4% year-over-year and reach $462.8 billion in 2022. More than half (55%) of all American gift shoppers surveyed expect to spend more than $500 on gifts this holiday season.
- Product pricing and deals/discounts will influence shoppers' gift purchase decisions the most; reverse shipping is important too. Since 82% of gift shoppers cited product price as either very influential or extremely influential on their purchase decision and 77% cited the same degree of influence for deals and discounts, retailers must focus on providing the best value to shoppers as price and promotions take center stage.
- Almost one-quarter of survey respondents said they would start their holiday gift shopping in September or sooner — younger generations are driving this trend. The proportion of respondents who cited shopping for gifts as early as October registered an 8-percentage point increase compared to last year. More shoppers expect to continue their holiday gift shopping through mid-to-end December versus last year, a 16-percentage point increase.
- The rebound of physical retail does not undermine the importance of online gift shopping. A significantly larger proportion of respondents — 42% versus 28% — expect to spend about half (40-60%) of their total budget online versus last year. The proportion of overall spending versus last year, which shoppers expect to spend online, remains strong across most product categories. Around nine in 10 shoppers expect to spend the same or larger proportion of their spending online on buying digital gift cards versus last year. Other popular categories include experiences like tickets to a movie, home goods and kitchen furnishings, electronics, toys or games, and beverages.
- Enabling gift recipients to have an input on delivery and sizing and fit before the gift is shipped can substantially elevate the digital gifting experience. Enabling recipients to add their preferences to gifts can substantially alleviate shopper anxiety when shopping for gifts. Services that shoppers believe can improve the overall digital gifting experience include the ability for the recipient to acknowledge receipt of the gift, input their delivery preference, customize the gift before it ships, and choose between a few products.
