The Journey to Buying a Holiday Gift How many people plan to shop for the holidays? What is the demographic of holiday shoppers?¹ How many gifts are bought online? What is the timeline for holiday shopping?² What are the most popular holiday gifts?² How many people buy experience-based gifts? Researching the Peect Gift How much do people spend on holiday gifts each year? 165 million+ Americans shop either in stores or online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.¹ They’re making their lists — and checking them twice. As the “official” holiday shopping kickoff looms, more than 165 million Americans plan to shop in stores or online between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. Be prepared for a fast sta: With six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the countdown is on. Today’s shoppers enjoy both the experience of the holiday rush in physical stores as well as the convenience of shopping from home on their devices. And from decorations to gifts, shoppers are in a buying mood this season. $1,007 The amount consumers planned to spend, on average, for items such as decorations, candy, and gifts as well as other purchases for themselves and their families.² 2016 $94.4B $108.2B $126.0B 14.4% 14.7% 16.5% increase YOY Holiday Season Online Retail Revenue (U.S. Holiday Season)³ 2017 2018 Older millennials and Gen Xers (35—44 years old) are the biggest holiday spenders, at Buying the peect gift for friends and loved ones is an adventure across many shopping channels. From search to social media, research and evaluation have become essential steps in the buyer journey. That gives online sellers a prime oppounity to reach gift-givers with targeted marketing. You'll want to pay special attention to creating an engaging and seamless online and mobile experience, and highlighting items that are in demand. While clothing and gift cards top most lists, gifts of experience continue to gain in popularity as shoppers aim to give friends and family special memories. The most popular day to shop online was Cyber Monday, with 67.4 million shoppers, followed by Black Friday, with 65.2 million shoppers. The most popular day for in-store shopping was Black Friday with more than 67 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday, with 47.4 million shoppers.¹ The five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday accounted for $1 in $5 of total online retail revenue during the holidays. Consumers spent an average 40% more per day during the three weeks after Cyber Monday than the first three weeks of the season.⁵ Tuesday Dec. 18 Wednesday Dec. 19 Thursday Dec. 20 Sunday Dec. 23 Monday Dec. 24 Tuesday Dec. 25 Friday Dec. 21 Saturday Dec. 22 Gifts of experience such as a cooking class, spa treatment, membership for a wine club, or tickets to a spoing event have continued to be popular, with 39% of consumers hoping to receive an experience gift and 23% planning to give one.⁶ Of those surveyed planned on buying some kind of experiential gift card, whether that be to a restaurant, a coffee shop, or some form of enteainment, like a movie theater, in 2018, according to the NRF.⁶ $93 Amount by which the multichannel shopper outspent the single-channel shopper.² 4% 6% 9% 12% 16% 8% 7% 0% 59% Clothing/Accessories 56% Gift Cards 41% Toys 40% Books/Other Media 32% Food/Candy 26% Consumer Electronics 25% Personal Care 21% Home Décor 21% Cash 20% Jewelry of consumers anticipate making holiday purchases online.⁴ 55% $413.05 75%
Transcript
The Journey to Buying a Holiday Gift
How many people plan to shop for the holidays?
What is the demographic of holiday shoppers?¹
How many gifts are bought online?
What is the timeline for holiday shopping?²
What are the most popular holiday gifts?²
How many people buy experience-based gifts?
Researching the Pe�ect Gift
How much do people spend on holiday gifts each year?
165 million+ Americansshop either in stores or online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.¹
They’re making their lists — and checking them twice. As the “official” holiday shopping kickoff looms, more than 165 million Americans plan to shop in stores or online between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. Be prepared for a fast sta�: With six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the countdown is on.
Today’s shoppers enjoy both the experience of the holiday rush in physical stores as well as the convenience of shopping from home on their devices. And from decorations to gifts, shoppers are in a buying mood this season.
$1,007The amount consumers planned to spend, on average, for items such as decorations, candy, and gifts as well as other purchases for themselves and their families.²
2016
$94.4B $108.2B$126.0B
14.4%14.7%
16.5%increase YOY
Holiday Season Online Retail Revenue (U.S. Holiday Season)³
2017 2018
Older millennials and Gen Xers (35—44 years old) are the biggest holiday spenders, at
Buying the pe�ect gift for friends and loved ones is an adventure across many shopping channels. From search to social media, research and evaluation have become essential steps in the buyer journey. That gives online sellers a prime oppo�unity to reach gift-givers with targeted marketing.
You'll want to pay special attention to creating an engaging and seamless online and mobile experience, and highlighting items that are in demand. While clothing and gift cards top most lists, gifts of experience continue to gain in popularity as shoppers aim to give friends and family special memories.
The most popular day to shop online was Cyber Monday, with 67.4 million shoppers, followed by Black Friday, with 65.2 million shoppers. The most popular day for in-store shopping was Black Friday with more than 67 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday, with 47.4 million shoppers.¹
The five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday accounted for $1 in $5 of total online retail revenue during the holidays. Consumers spent an average 40% more per day during the three weeks after Cyber Monday than the first three weeks of the season.⁵
Tuesday Dec. 18
Wednesday Dec. 19
ThursdayDec. 20
SundayDec. 23
Monday Dec. 24
Tuesday Dec. 25
Friday Dec. 21
Saturday Dec. 22
Gifts of experience such as a cooking class, spa treatment, membership for a wine club, or tickets to a spo�ing event have continued to be popular, with 39% of consumers hoping to receive an experience gift and 23% planning to give one.⁶
Of those surveyed planned on buying some kind of experiential gift card, whether that be to a restaurant, a coffee shop, or some form of ente�ainment, like a movie theater, in 2018, according to the NRF.⁶
$93Amount by which the multichannel shopper outspent the single-channel shopper.²
4%6%
9%12%
16%
8% 7%
0%
59%Clothing/Accessories
56%Gift Cards
41%Toys
40%Books/Other Media
32%Food/Candy
26%Consumer Electronics
25%Personal Care
21%Home Décor
21%Cash
20%Jewelry
of consumers anticipate making holiday purchases online.⁴
55%
$413.05
75%
Why do consumers give gifts of experience?⁷
What is the most popular way to search for gifts?⁸
How does social media play a role in looking for holiday gifts?
Shoppers using social media to look for information about Thanksgiving weekend sales and promotions:²
How do mobile devices affect holiday shopping?
How many people visit holiday markets?
Nearly half of all consumers attended a "retailtainment" event (like a pop-up shop or product demo) throughout the previous year.
When looking at just millennials, that number jumps to 66%.⁶
55% of shoppers said that browsing for gift ideas is one of the main reasons to shop in stores.⁹
Special memory
Search Engine PriceComparison
Website
ConsumerReview Website
Social MediaAmazon Retailer Website
Unique Variety Convenience
60% 55%
50%
40%34%
29%26% 21%
61%54%
37% 35%44%
33% 41%
18%
78%61%
Facebook
All shoppers
Instagram Pinterest Twitter
17%
27% 28%
9%
21%17%
4%6% 7%
4% 5% 5%
Ages 18—24 Ages 25—34
All Gen Z Millennial
Shoppers using mobile devices to make holiday purchase decisions over Thanksgiving weekend:²
66%
88%
87%
All shoppers
Ages 18—24
Ages 25—34
of all online visits during the 61-day period that ended on Dec. 31 were from sma�phones.⁵
51.4%
Evaluating Gift Options
Sellers are competing with an ever-growing marketplace, both online and offline. While product quality and user reviews are common ways for shoppers to vet their choices, they flock to holiday deals, with price discounts and promotional offers most likely to make them buy. Shoppers also rank complimentary shipping as another crucial element as they evaluate options.
How do product photos affect buyer behavior?10
According to Weebly data (Weebly survey of online shoppers ages 16—55 conducted in June 2018):
75%
of people rate photos as very influential when they’re deciding whether they want to buy a product online.
8 out of 10shoppers expect to find photos on a website's product pages.
79%
expect to find product photos from multiple angles.
How do product descriptions affect sales?11
Products with 50 or more words in their descriptions — and fewer than 500 — tend to have 4X the number of add-to-ca�s as products with sho�er descriptions.
What are the most impo�ant factors behind a purchase?8
How many people prefer buy-online-pick-up-in-store?
Do people look for deals after the holidays?
How many people purchase gifts at the last minute? What do they buy?11
Takeaways for organizing product descriptions:11
Use bulleted lists for sho�er product descriptions to drive higher add-to-ca� rates.
Gingerbread Cookies
Purchasing the Gift
Are those reindeer hooves or the mouse clicks and taps of online shoppers we hear? To prevent abandoned ca�s this season, an online seller's store has to provide a seamless experience. Offering a range of delivery options will put you on the nice list, by providing convenience and choice for busy would-be elves — from expedited delivery to a buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) selection if you have both physical and online stores.
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Despite shoppers’ best intentions, many unwanted gifts will be under the tree this year. But rather than considering it a hassle, retailers are embracing the upsell oppo�unities they can realize by making returns seamless. That’s because shoppers aren’t done spending yet: Many will have holiday cash or gift cards burning a hole in their pockets as they take advantage of post-holiday markdowns and hit the sales both in stores and online.
Retailers with both physical and online stores saw a 50% uptick in the usage of BOPIS.⁵
Price Product Details
70%Propo�ion of gift card sales that are electronic on December 25; physical cards are preferred 90% of the time except for this last-minute occasion.
Store locator
1.5XIncrease in spend by procrastinators who shop for last-minute beauty, retail, or ente�ainment gift cards.
$50The peak median value gift cards soar to in the days before Christmas.
50% of consumers who miss Christmas deadlines plan to take advantage of after-Christmas sales in stores.
45% plan to do the same online.13
51% will shop after Christmas to take advantage of post-holiday sales.
27% will shop to use gift cards they receive.
17%will return and exchange unwanted gifts.13
Delivery Costs
Sources:
1 Smith, Ana Serafin, et al. “Thanksgiving Weekend Multichannel Shopping up Almost 40 Percent over Last Year.” NRF, Nov. 2018,
What deals do shoppers look for during the holidays?12
Holiday promotional offers that appeal the most to surveyed shoppers
43% 43%
• A dozen asso�ed treats
• Made with love
• Santa’s favorite
Add to cart
Takeaways for organizing product descriptions:11
Use full sentences for longer product descriptions to drive higher add-to-ca� rates.
The Pe�ect Sleigh
For all of your picturesque winter sleigh rides, this antique-designed wooden sleigh combines beauty with pe�ormance. From sliding down hill to bringing home your holiday haul, this handmade sleigh can suppo� all your holiday activities.
