Blog

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin

The countdown is on. The holidays are less than 90 days away, which means that 55% of holiday shoppers have already started researching gift purchases and 33% of shoppers started buying gifts.

The average consumer spends $588.90 buying 14 gifts. More than one-third of that is spent during Thanksgiving weekend—the average consumer spent $214 during Thanksgiving weekend in 2016.

Since so much holiday shopping happens over the Thanksgiving weekend, this blog article will outline the top 4 things you need to know about holiday shoppers so you can plan for successful holiday sales.

When They Shop

Thanksgiving weekend drew over 147 million shoppers last year. Shoppers will be out in force on Gray Thursday, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. Here’s when customers plan to shop:

21% on Thanksgiving Day/Gray Thursday

59% of mobile shopping searches start before stores open at 6 p.m. and peak around 8 p.m.

74% on Black Friday

foot traffic peaks between noon and 4 p.m.

47% on Small Business Saturday

a record 112 million consumers shopped on Small Business Saturday in 2016

What They Buy

Although they are focused on getting gifts for others, over 7 in 10 shoppers purchase something for themselves while holiday shopping. Most of those are impulse purchases found while customers were searching for these top gifts:

• clothes/accessories 61%

• gift cards 55%

• books/movies/video games 44%

• food 31%

• 13% of last-minute shoppers plan to buy their gifts at supermarkets/grocery stores

• electronics 30%

• personal care/beauty 25%

• jewelry 21%

• home décor/furniture 21%

• cash 20%

• sports/leisure items 17%

• home improvement/tools 12%

Where They Look

Holiday shopping starts with research. 89% of shoppers research products online before buying in person. They are looking for gift ideas, product reviews and prices.

The average shopper is generous. 89% research gifts that cost $100-$150; 85% look for gifts between $50-$100 and 66% consumers research products at a price point of less than $50. Here’s where shoppers are looking for gift ideas:

• 47% physical stores

• 29% Facebook

• 24% email

• 17% retailer apps

• 17% Pinterest

Why They Buy

Recommendations and deals compel most holiday shoppers to make a purchase. 54% of shoppers utilized recommendations from retailers and 9 in 10 shoppers said something convinced them to make a purchase:

• 64% free shipping

• 50% limited-time sale

• 33% buy online & pickup in-store

• 25% free gift with purchase