With Black Friday and Cyber Week just around the corner, it’s no surprise that the holiday season is at the forefront of every retailer’s mind. We set out to better understand how consumers will shop and spend this year at Wunderkind. Are you prepared?
Wunderkind surveyed 500 consumers in the US, Canada, UK, and the Netherlands to uncover this year’s trends in consumer holiday shopping behavior, such as price consciousness, shopping online versus in-store, preferred brand communication channels, purchase influences, and more. You can read the findings in our 2022 Consumer Insights Report, (see US, Canada, UK, and Netherlands-specific data) but for now, we want to look at some key consumer behavior expectations this holiday season.
With the seismic changes of recent years, needless to say, customers won’t be behaving in the same way as before a cost of living crisis, a pandemic, and global uncertainty. So how will they shop this holiday season? Here are our key findings.
Purchase Affordability: A combination of both global and regional factors has caused year-over-year inflation in the United States to rise to 9%, the highest on record in decades. The economic downturn has created uncertainty in the market and consumer shopping behaviors. 46.2% of respondents said they would be comparing prices more this season compared to last holiday season. 83.2% said that price matters the most in their purchase.
The Future of eCommerce: 71% of consumers said they planned to shop online during both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Over half of consumers stated that they plan to browse online and buy online.
Clear Communication: Over 65% of consumers said emails from brands encourage them to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and 62.8% like to be reminded of brands’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals via email.
The Economics of It All: Payment plans such as Buy Now, Pay Later are important to nearly half of US consumers. Price matters most to shoppers, and many will be comparing prices more this season than last. Having flexible payment options is a great way to ensure your price-sensitive customers have access to the items they want.
Brand Morality: Values such as sustainability, fair wages, and diversity are more important than ever to consumer purchasing decisions. 42.8% of consumers said they take a brand’s position on sustainability into consideration when purchasing, whilst 38.7% consider a brand’s position of fair wages.
The global economic and societal uncertainty of the past two years has had profound effects on consumer shopping behaviors. Our study on consumer purchasing trends was
developed to help brands like yours better understand their customers. Increased insight into your customer purchasing behaviors is critical in developing customized messaging that will resonate with your audience and turn them into loyal customers.