Tophatter Inc., a leading discovery shopping marketplace, today announced the findings from its third annual Holiday Gifting Survey. The survey polled 1081 consumers in the U.S. on their holiday shopping plans this year. The survey revealed people plan to make an average of 67% of holiday purchases online this year—compared to the average of 56% of purchases they reported making online last year.
The Pandemic’s Impact on Holiday Shopping
The COVID-19 pandemic’s full impact on holiday retail remains to be seen, but 43.76% of people said they don’t think the pandemic will change their holiday shopping plans much, if at all. In contrast, 30.43% said they are buying fewer gifts because they have less money or are on a tighter budget than years past. Some are shifting their shopping window, with 18.96% shopping earlier than usual. And a small subset of 6.85% of people is buying more gifts because their loved ones need to be cheered up.
When is the 2020 holiday shopping window?
- 37.1% of consumers will not start holiday shopping until November
- 33.77% of people started in September or October
- 14.15% shop all year, stockpiling gifts
- 3.7% do not plan to do any holiday shopping in 2020
Gift exchanges, Secret Santas, and holiday parties may largely be canceled. However, when asked if consumers plan to mail more gifts because of social distancing this year, 41.44% of respondents replied they will not change their usual holiday gifting plans because of pandemic safety measures. However, 34.78% will mail gifts rather than exchange in-person. And 23.77% said they will not send gifts to people they usually see, but will not be seeing this year due to social distancing.
The Pandemic’s Impact on Holiday Budgets
Survey results revealed a broad range of plans for holiday spending. When asked about setting a holiday gift budget this year consumers responded:
- No, I spend as much as I need to for the gifts I want to buy: 38.67%
- Yes, I set a strict budget and stick to it: 29.69%
- My budget will be smaller than in previous years because of the current economy: 20.72%
- I shop last minute, so I cannot plan a budget: 6.57%
- I will not be able to spend money on holiday gifts this year because of the economy: 4.35%
Black Friday sales have trended more and more online in recent years, and shopper behavior this year will continue in that direction:
- 54.12% of respondents report rarely or never attending Black Friday sales in-person
- 21.65% said maybe, if there is a discount or item they cannot pass up
- 16.28% usually attend a Black Friday event but will skip this year to social distance
- 7.96% of people said they would never miss the shopping event
What Consumers Want
42.83% of shoppers are going into holiday shopping with some idea of what they want to buy, but they do love to discover things they didn’t know they wanted. 31.8% of people explore stores, apps, and websites to discover the right gifts. Only 15.73% of shoppers make a detailed list and stick to it. The remaining pools are small: 5.65% give everyone cash or gift cards and 3.98% reported they will not be holiday shopping this year.
“Gift buying, and holiday shopping in particular, should not be a burden. With so many people feeling the strain of 2020, they want to bring joy to their loved ones with special gifts, but don’t want to overspend,” said Sree Menon, COO of Tophatter. “It’s no surprise that the majority of people like discovering gifts when holiday shopping. Discovery shopping is designed for people to find unique products and score great deals—and the thrill of the treasure hunt makes shopping fun rather than work. We’ve all handled enough this year. I say, throw out the detailed list and find experiences that bring joy to your holiday shopping.”
When asked what’s most important when choosing where to shop this holiday season, overwhelmingly shoppers responded they choose by where free shipping is offered (27.75%) and where retailers offer bigger discounts than normal (34.97%). The ability to buy everything online is the primary importance to 19.33% of consumers. Curbside pickup is not a driving force, as it’s only a top priority for 1.76% of people.
What categories shoppers plan to purchase in is more varied than how they like to shop. When asked what gift categories do they plan to buy the most of this year, shoppers responded with a variety of answers:
- Toys and video games because they’re what all the kids in my life love most: 22.76%
- Gift cards or cash because it’s easy and always welcome: 20.07%
- Electronics because those are always the most fun and flashy gift of the year: 15.54%
- Clothing because it’s practical and fun to receive: 12.4%
- Gear for hobbies or sports because it’s what I know people will use: 10.64%
- Books, movie, and music because it’s thoughtful and affordable: 8.51%
- Jewelry because it’s always a special way to treat my loved ones: 5.74%
- Home decor because it works for everyone in my life: 4.35%
Year over year, this data follows closely to the 2019 Tophatter Holiday Gifting Survey where 26% of respondents planned to give gift cards most; followed by 19.7% who answered toys, and 13.4% answered electronics.
