9 of the Most Interesting Holiday Shopping Data Points From NRF

Today is October 16, which means, if you’re paying attention, more than 40 percent of consumers have begun their holiday shopping.

That might mean it’s too late to put a full-on strategy into place to reach your holiday shoppers. But with the National Retail Foundation forecasting online spending will push $105 billion this holiday season, it’s not too late to start paying attention to their motivators and adjusting accordingly.

So, we figured we would take a look at the NRF’s holiday shopping data and the some different ways consumers said they plan to use their smartphones and tablets this holiday season. There are, after all, still 50 days until Cyber Monday.

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Ecommerce Comfort

• More than 29% of consumers said they plan to do at least 50% of their holiday shopping online. That number has grown from 24.1% in 2013 and 23.5% in 2012.
• The average shopper plans to do 44% of their holiday shopping online.

Device Preferences

• The 45-54 age demographic is the most likely to use a tablet to make a purchase in connection with holiday shopping. 34.55% say they’ll use the device to make a purchase, while another 51.15% will use a tablet to research products and compare prices.
• 32.7% of shoppers between the age of 18 and 24 plan to make a purchase on their smartphones. Of that same 18-24 consumer base, only 24.81% plan to use a tablet.
• When compared with this time last year, nearly every age demographic said they were more likely to research products and compare prices on their smartphones. The biggest movers in that space? the 18-24 and 25-34 demographics, who both plan to use their phones more than 25% more often for that task.
• Compared to this time last year, consumers aren’t any more interested in using mobile apps to shop. No demographic has marketers more interest in using apps for research, comparison shopping or purchasing products.

Customer Service Preferences

• Though it’s generally ranked by consumers as the least important customer service factor to helping someone complete a purchase, a site’s ease of use becomes increasingly important with consumers every September and December. It’s a trend that dates back six years.
• The most important customer service factor, as ranked by customers is low prices. The second most important? Free shipping.
• You might think flexible/free return policies would be a high-ranking customer service preference for consumers. When weighed against low prices, free shipping and an easy-to-use site in December 2013, though, it ranked last.

As more customers turn to their smartphones as shopping devices, it’s important to keep each of these motivators and preferences in mind. And if you think it’s too late to act on these types of insights, think again: more than half of all consumers won’t start their holiday shopping until November.

Holiday gift box image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Read more: Positive Holiday Shopping Season