Dive Brief:
- Following retailers’ October and November sales, more than half (56%) of U.S. shoppers are more likely to do their holiday shopping in person in December than in other months, according to a recent Shopify-Gallup Holiday Shopping Pulse survey of 1,888 consumers.
- Nearly half (49%) of U.S. holiday shoppers said they plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping this month. While 53% of consumers aged 50 or younger plan to do all or most of their shopping in December, 44% of shoppers aged 50 or older said the same, the survey found.
- Along gender lines, 21% of men and 11% of women said they won’t start their holiday shopping until December. Of the men who are beginning their shopping this month, 31% said they’re doing so due to procrastination, and 23% prefer to “shop in the month when the holiday falls,” according to the survey.
Dive Insight:
Though Shopify’s research suggests that many consumers plan to buy a majority of their holiday goods this month, other research indicates that consumers began their holiday shopping as early as October. Adobe Analytics found that October online sales rose $4.3 billion from last year to $76.8 billion. Purchases via mobile devices also jumped 46.7% year over year to $35.9 billion, during a month that saw retailers start early deals.
That holiday spending growth continued in November. Adobe Analytics found that shoppers spent $109.3 billion online between Nov.1 and Nov. 27, a 7.3% bump from the year prior. The National Retail Federation said 200.4 million consumers shopped between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, higher than the organization’s 182 million prediction.
To capture early holiday shoppers, major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Target introduced sales in early to mid-October. The following month, Amazon said its Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping event between Nov. 17 and Nov. 27 exceeded sales in previous years, but did not share exact figures.
In addition to shopping with major retailers, some consumers shopped via Small Business Saturday last month. According to the American Express 2023 Saturday Customer Insights survey, 53% of respondents said they shopped online via a small business on Small Business Saturday. The total spending of U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants that day reached an estimated $17 billion this year.
