PriceGrabber: Consumers to check off most shopping in December
Los Angeles -- Survey results released Wednesday by PriceGrabber found that with a record 247 million shoppers visiting stores and websites over the Thanksgiving weekend, there are still a significant number of December shoppers this year.
According to PriceGrabber.com’s winter holiday shopping survey, 78% of consumers are still in the market to complete their holiday shopping in December. More specifically, 45% stated that they are prepared to conduct most of their shopping this month; 33% took advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals in November but said they would conduct a majority of their shopping in December; and 22% indicated they will not shop for gifts this month.
When the consumers who indicated that they will do most of their shopping this month were asked to select all of the reasons why, 48% said they anticipate deep discounts in December; 28% indicated they procrastinate and wait until the last minute to shop; and 25% noted that holiday advertisements in December offer them great gift ideas.
Nineteen percent indicated they conduct most of their shopping in December because they like to take advantage of Free Shipping Day on Dec. 17 and another 19% said they are busy and only able to shop in December.
"Thanksgiving weekend was a huge win for retailers with strong sales, and our survey data shows that consumers are still planning to shop and spend money throughout December, which indicates a positive overall holiday shopping season," said Rojeh Avanesian, VP marketing and analytics of PriceGrabber.com.
According to PriceGrabber survey results, 59% of shoppers plan to take advantage of Free Shipping Day on Dec.17 to order online and have their gifts delivered in time for Christmas, and 48% plan to shop on Super Saturday, Dec. 22 to take advantage of one-day sales.
When PriceGrabber survey respondents were asked if they plan to inspect merchandise in a physical retail store and later purchase it online for less money this holiday season (called “showrooming”), 52% responded positively. When the respondents planning to "showroom" were asked to select all of the reasons why they planned to do so, 53% said because they like to touch and feel the product first and then find the best price online; 40% indicated they test the product to see if they like it and then go online to take advantage of free shipping deals and coupons; and 40% noted that they are trying to save money on holiday gifts this year and always search for the best price. Thirty-nine percent of shoppers indicated they like to browse first and buy later and 27% said they like to make side-by-side comparisons before making gift decisions.