It’s never too early to start prepping for the 2015 holidays.
This might be especially true this year. One of the top trends to watch for in 2015 is consumers starting their holiday shopping early. Like before Halloween, early.
In this post, we’ll dissect when consumers are doing most of their holiday shopping and what days you should be paying attention to as a merchant.
When to Expect Holidays Shoppers in 2015
Using data from last year’s holidays, merchants should have good idea of what to expect from consumers in 2015. And to make this easy, we’re going to break consumers down into three groups: those who shop before November, during November, and last-minute December shoppers. We’ll give you the lowdown for each group.
Before November
Most merchants might think that holiday shopping begins on Black Friday. But, data tells us otherwise.
National Retail Federation (NRF) reported from their Annual Consumer Spending Survey that 40.4% of consumers in 2014 started their shopping from before September to the end of October. That 40.4% is comprised of:
The top reasons for starting shopping early are:
- To spread out my gift shopping budget – 61.9%
- To avoid traditional shopping crowds in November and December – 51.7%
- To avoid the stress of last-minute shipping – 51%
- Price/promotions are too good to pass up – 44.7%
If you’ve yet to start thinking about your holiday strategy, you could be missing out on these eager shoppers. These types of customers are looking to take advantage of early holiday promotions.
During November
NRF reported that in 2014, 40.9% of consumers started their shopping in November. The main days you should be concerned about are Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, and the following Saturday, and Sunday.
It’s also important to note that Cyber Monday this year will fall within November on the 30th.
Of these days, you can expect the most sales on Black Friday, and most of your online sales on Cyber Monday.
Last-minute December
Last year, the average shopper completed 52.9% of their shopping as of December 10, a slight increase from the year before.
While shoppers are a little over halfway done by the beginning of December, there are still many last minute shoppers racing the clock to Christmas day.
In 2014, this is when these laggards planned on buying their last holiday gifts:
- Nearly 1/3 plan to buy before Thursday, December 18th
- 5% will look to Super Saturday (the last Saturday before Christmas)
- 1% will wait until Christmas Eve
You can expect these same type of shoppers in 2015. Think about what your cutoff date is for packages to be delivered by Christmas Day.
How can you wrangle in these last minute shoppers?
More 2015 Holiday Retail Shopping Trends
Knowing when people are shopping is just one piece of the puzzle. In our next post, we’ll discuss where you should expect people to do their shopping. Hint: online.
Subscribe to Multichannel Insights to make sure you don’t miss the next post. In the meantime, check out our presentation of all 2015 holiday shopping trends to expect.
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