Consumers Plan to Start Holiday Shopping Earlier This Year, Per Report
Digital solutions provider Coveo has shared a new report that details how consumers in the U.S. and U.K. are preparing for holiday shopping.
Out of the 4,000 surveyed, 80% said that they plan to shop the same or more during the upcoming holiday season compared with past years. Nearly one in two shoppers (45%) said they will start their shopping earlier than usual to find deals and discounts given the rising cost and availability of goods.
Regarding inflation, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Coveo told Store Brands that he expects private label market share to continue to grow this holiday season.
"Store brands are already growing faster than national brands in many categories,” he said. “Our analysis suggests that, unless the economy rebounds and inflation gets tamed, this trend will continue. We're also seeing a trend of retailers asking for AI tools that can help them increase their profitability. AI tools that can automatically boost high profit store brands is an important part of that answer."
The report also details how consumers view shopping at physical stores. While 54% of consumers said they are likely to look at a product online and buy it in-store, an almost identical number (53%) reported being likely to look at a product in-store and buy it online. However, 42% of shoppers explicitly said they will leave a site if shipping options are limited or they don’t have a buy online pick-up in store option.
When it comes to the generational divide, Gen Z was found to be more likely to buy luxury goods online (28% vs. 15% overall), and be more loyal to brands they shopped in the past year (41% vs. 23% overall). Gen Z is also more likely to factor sustainability into buying decisions (64% vs. 25% overall).
“Despite the rising cost of living, we continue to see strong interest in shopping for the upcoming holidays, though brands should note the anticipated behavioral changes related to shopping timeframes, generational mindsets, and expectations for intertwined online-offline customer experiences,” Brian McGlynn, General Manager of commerce at Coveo. “As economic conditions continue to fluctuate, we believe retailers must keep up with shopper behavior trends and test assumptions to keep the customer experiences relevant at all times and the focus on profitability and performance will be even more necessitated.”
Coveo’s 2022 Holiday Shopping Report can be found here.