20% more people will do holiday shopping online this year

Eighty-six percent of consumers surveyed about their 2021 holiday shopping plans said they would do their shopping online this year-- a 21-percentage-point rise from last year. Those saying they’d shop in brick-and-mortar stores, meanwhile, fell 15 points to 48%.

Both huge shifts can be blamed on the pandemic, according to the fourth annual Holiday Shopping ID Theft survey from Generali Global Assistance, a provider of cyber protection solutions. 

“Consumers’ shopping behavior has evolved rapidly as a result of the pandemic, forcing even the 30 percent of Americans who used to avoid online shopping entirely to take their business online,” said Paige Schaffer, Generali Global Assistance’s CEO of Identity & Cyber Protection Services.

More than 70% of the 1,003 adults surveyed who avoided shopping online in the past said they have become more comfortable doing so since the start of the pandemic. Still, that same-sized group of people said they planned to visit two to five stores this holiday season, while 18% said they shop at six or more.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they’d feel more secure doing business with retailers that offered them identity protection services.