Nearly 20% of consumers plan to shift holiday spending online: Coresight

Dive Brief:

As the holidays draw closer, more than a third of U.S. shoppers said they are worried their online order won't arrive on time, according to a new Coresight Research survey. But despite that concern, 78.2% of shoppers expect to buy gifts online this holiday season.
Almost two-thirds (65.1%) of U.S. holiday shoppers plan to purchase their gifts from physical stores this holiday season. Among various income brackets, consumers earning between $100,000 and $125,000 are driving brick-and-mortar shopping, with 74% of those shoppers planning to buy gifts in store this year. That's followed by shoppers earning $50,000 to $74,999, with 69.6% of them planning to make in-store purchases.
Nearly 20% of consumers plan to shift some or all of their spending this year from stores to online, compared to 11.6% who plan to shift from e-commerce to physical retail.

Dive Insight:

Amid a supply chain crunch, concerns over out-of-stocks in stores are driving customers online this holiday season. A recent report from Deloitte found that 75% of shoppers are worried about products running out this holiday season, which drove them to buy their holiday goods earlier this year.

But as a result of shipping delays affecting the industry, stores will also be a key channel this year. The report aligns with other research indicating that consumers are willing to return to in-store shopping this year and the next few years. The NPD Group released a report earlier this month showing that 58% of survey respondents plan to shop in stores thanks to the wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Another report from Forrester found estimates that 72% of retail sales will occur in-stores through 2024.

Consumers will also be looking to use in-store fulfillment options, Coresight found. Just over 20% of survey respondents said they plan to use curbside pickup, while 17.9% said they'd use BOPIS services to fulfill some of their online purchases, per the survey.

Though the coronavirus pandemic remains a complication for retailers, research suggests that this year's holiday sales will rise. According to estimates from Wells Fargo analysts, 2021 holiday sales could increase 11% compared to last year. The ICSC's Annual Holiday Shopping Intentions survey projects that holiday sales between November and December will rise by 8.9% to $923 billion from 2020.