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3 Key Insights into Holiday Shoppers: When, How, and Why They Buy

Field Agent

December 24, 2014

3 French Hens. With only 2 shopping days left!!!

During the holidays, customers stop saying “I’m just looking” and start saying “I’ll take three.” With this year’s holiday shopping blitz quickly approaching an end, we at Field Agent wanted to reflect on and share some of what we’ve learned about holiday shoppers over the last several days. It’s gift-wrapped and topped with a bow.

Truly, shopping is a prominent feature of the American holiday scene. As the lyricist observed, it’s a time when “…shoppers rush home with their treasures.” Over the last few weeks, Field Agent has learned a good deal about Christmas shoppers. In fact, this holiday season alone we’ve surveyed over 1,000 Americans across the country, posing some 60 different questions. Most recently we surveyed 350 adults about their Christmastime shopping habits and motivations. Consider just 3 important insights from this study.\n

1. For shoppers, gift-giving is a matter of reputation.

We asked respondents a direct question: Is it important to you to be perceived as a good gift-giver? The results were emphatic: 93% said they care to be seen by others as a thoughtful, clever, or, in general, capable gift-giver. Yet most of our sample said they don’t take this desire to the point of being competitive with others. Only 6% admitted they strive to give better presents than others.

What about surprising others? Is it really all that important to surprise gift recipients? For exactly 50% of our sample, yes, actually, it is. In other words, half of Americans in our survey said they feel it is important not only to purchase gifts people want, but also to elicit genuine surprise from them.

2. Last-minute shoppers are the exception, not the rule.

Here in the last hours before Christmas, no doubt many Americans will rush to stores to purchase one or more “last-minute” gifts. But while last-minute shoppers may be a nice bonus for retailers and brands hoping for one last surge in shopping activity, our research suggests the vast majority of shoppers do most of their buying well before the holiday.

In fact, we found 39% of our sample completed most of their purchases even before the arrival of Black Friday. And only 9% said they’ll wait until 5 or fewer days before December 25. Additionally, 31% of those surveyed indicated they buy most of their Christmas gifts in early/mid-December. Yes, the pure last-minute shopper is comparatively rare.

3. Price rules. Even at Christmas.

Low prices generally have the ability to move shoppers. But what about at Christmas? Might something like quality, in-store convenience, or brand name be more important than price to gift-buyers? Not according to our survey.

We asked our sample to select any and all factors that highly influenced their choice of gifts this year. 77% identified affordability/ low cost as a powerful influence, beating quality (51%), in-store convenience (28%), and brand name (25%). So, while on one level consumers are shopping for smartphones, scarves, and action figures, on another level they’re also seriously shopping prices.\n

Bonus Stocking Stuffer: The Omnichannel Shopper

Throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas, we have been impressed by the important role of the Internet and Internet-enabled devices in reshaping the face of holiday shopping.

Of the 350 adults we most recently surveyed, 48% indicated they purchased most of their Christmas presents online this year.

We also just surveyed 333 parents, and 46% said they primarily bought toy gifts online this Christmas season.

And then, of course, there are Internet-enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. For Christmas 2014, 94% said they purchased at least one gift using a computer or smartphone. That’s close to everyone.

Moreover, consumers are largely using the Internet for purposes other than simply transacting purchases. For instance, of our sample, 46% said product reviews were a highly influential factor in what gifts they purchased this year. More consumers are becoming omnichannel shoppers and it’s more and more important these days for retailers and brands to catch the shopper in all of the outlets they’re using.