FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Post-Holiday Consumer Insights Study: Spending Increases Are Predominately Online
San Diego, California - February 9, 2017 - TrendSource Trusted Insight, a market research and strategic consulting firm, compared consumers’ pre-holiday purchase intentions, influencers, and preferences with their post-holiday realities in the annual Post-Holiday Consumer Insights Study.
In the 2016 Pre-Holiday Study, TrendSource Trusted Insight offered some hope for brick-and-mortar retailers. Nearly half (49%) of respondents who reported being turned off by the crowds and inconvenience of in-store shopping indicated they could be enticed to venture into brick and mortar by events such as sales and promotions. Unfortunately, this appears to be a case where intentions did not translate into action: Only 20% of these crowd-weary shoppers ultimately were drawn into physical stores during the holiday season. The progressive movement towards online retail that we have been tracking for four years really appears to have reached new heights in 2016.
Obviously such news, while distressing for many retailers, is a benefit for those with a powerful online presence. First and foremost among these is Amazon, which once again was a top-three purchase destination in the three most popular gift categories—fashion/apparel, electronics, and toys. In electronics and toys, Amazon enjoys a comfortable 6% lead over its nearest competition, Best Buy and Walmart, respectively, and in fashion/apparel only trails Kohl’s 4%. More interestingly, however, Amazon also increased its the percentage of shoppers between 2% and 3% from pre-holiday intention to post-holiday reality. That means that, as shopping deadlines loomed and consumers felt the rush of the holiday season upon them, more of them turned to Amazon than had intended to, speaking to consumers’ perceptions of its convenience and practicality.
How else did pre-holiday intentions compare to post-holiday reality and what trends can be identified by analyzing this study alongside data from 2015? Other topics include, what devices and platforms are most popular in online shopping, how many people bought gifts for their pets, and how effective are celebrity endorsements?
About this Study:
TrendSource Trusted Insight conducted this research study between January 2 and January 15 by surveying 738 North American respondents (18 years or older) in The Source database who responded to both the pre-holiday and post-holiday survey.
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