Dive Brief:
-
More than a quarter (26%) of shoppers have already started shopping for the holidays and more than half (58%) will do so well before Black Friday, according to a recent survey by Boston-based digital marketing company SessionM.
-
Such shoppers may miss out on holiday discounts, but are able to spread out their spending over several weeks or even months.
-
The survey by SessionM found that 61% of women and 49% of men begin their shopping before Thanksgiving. In addition to budgeting, some consumers prefer to save the holidays for baking and gathering.
Dive Insight:
There have always been certain shoppers who keep the holidays in mind all year long so as to avoid the holiday shopping frenzy. But research from SessionM jibes with a recent spending report from The International Council of Shopping Centers that more Americans are starting their shopping earlier this year. Many more (90%) are planning their purchases this season, up from 82% last year, according to the ICSC 2015 holiday forecast and consumer spending survey.
"There are millions of people who have this early-bird itch," National Retail Federation spokesperson Kathy Allen told NBC News.
Financial experts say that’s a better way to budget, even though shoppers miss the huge discounts of the post-Thanksgiving sales.
"It's definitely a better allocation of financial resources," Nicole Reyhle, founder of retailer blog Retail Minded and author of "Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Business,” told NBC.
Most shoppers, whom the company calls “classic shoppers,” start their holiday buying early to avoid large crowds and spread their spending over weeks, but not nearly as soon as the “early bird shopper,” who begins shopping sometimes as early as Dec. 26 and shops throughout the year. Of course, those super-early birds can take advantage of post-holiday discounts.
Then there’s the “last-minute” shopper, who keeps retail employees and shippers hopping by shaving things pretty close.
“For this shopper, the process of gift buying always comes down to the wire (despite last year’s promise to have everything locked down way, way ahead next holiday season),” writes SessionM’s Lindsay Bloom.