2019 Holiday Shopping Trends

A survey conducted by Blue Fountain Media, a Pactera Company, a leading digital marketing agency based in New York City, reveals that for the 2019 holiday season consumers are doing more shopping online than ever before – with 30% of respondents reporting that they will do ALL their holiday shopping that way - but many express concerns with both old and new challenges posed by the online market place. Below are statistical highlights from the survey. Summary Findings For the 2019 holiday shopping season, Blue Fountain Media, a Pactera company, conducted a survey of over 1,000 US consumers to gauge emerging patterns in online shopping habits and trends. As expected, consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping online this year, citing convenience as the primary motivator. 30% of those polled will do all their holiday shopping online. 45% will do half. Only 4% say they will only shop in stores. The survey also revealed some interesting findings regarding consumer perceptions on privacy, internet taxes, advertising, and sustainability as they get ready to embark on the holiday shopping season. Key Findings: Security Concerns When asked, how many companies they think get use of personal information when they make a purchase online: Almost half (48%) say they think it’s probably more companies than they can imagine, with 10% believing it could even be thousands of companies. Almost 70% said if they knew for sure their personal information was being shared with five or more other companies, they would be very concerned and probably re-think doing business with that online retailer. Only 5% polled said they didn’t care how their information was shared. Sustainability Consumers are trying to decrease their holiday shopping carbon footprint: In fact, 85% of respondents said they would shop more sustainably this year. 45% said that they would shop online and use a single shipment online retailer, like Amazon, to cut down on fossil fuel usage. 14% admitted sustainability did not enter into their holiday plans. Advertisements Many consumers have warmed up to social media ads, but not the noisy ones. 60% will click on social media ads when holiday shopping. 40% report that they don’t respond to ads on social media. 40% of those polled find video ads with audio annoying. A quarter (25%) of respondents find that receiving ads about things they were just talking about intrusive. Online Taxes Consumers are not embracing tech enhancements designed to improve the customer experience. 35% say online shopping is less advantageous as a result. Almost 20% say the move was inevitable. As brick and mortar stores disappear, taxing online had to come. Almost 25% haven’t noticed the change. Tech Consumers are not embracing tech enhancements designed to improve the customer experience. Almost half (45%) indicated they will be taking advantage of voice assistants, virtual shopping tools like size simulators, and chatbots for their holiday shopping this year. 21% indicated they would use visual search-engine platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest. Only 12% are planning to shop via a voice assistant, like Siri, Google Home or Alexa. Less than 3% said they would make a buying decision based on a chatbot recommendation.