Survey: Amazon will benefit from strong online holiday season

Consumers are increasing their volume of online shopping for the upcoming holidays, and Amazon is the leading destination.

According to a new survey of 1,060 consumers from non-profit discount platform Dealaid, 81% of respondents will continue to shop more online due to COVID-19 during the holiday season in 2021. On average, respondents plan to spend a total of $974 during the 2021 holiday shopping season, including $670 online and $374 in-store. This represents a 4.7% increase compared to 2020.

For the 94% of respondents planning to shop online this holiday season, Amazon is the resounding first choice for digital purchases. Eight in 10 (79%) respondents who plan to shop online expect to spend most of their 2021 holiday shopping budgets at Amazon. Walmart.com is a distant second at 6%.

More than half (55%) of respondents planning to do online holiday shopping will use a mobile device for at least some purchases. Fifty-five percent of all respondents will shop at brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season.

These results align with findings from a recent survey from platform TreasureData, which show nearly half of surveyed consumers (47%) plan to do a combination of in-store and online shopping for the holidays, with almost four in 10 (39%) skipping brick-and-mortar altogether in favor of e-commerce options. This means 86% of respondents will make at least some of their holiday purchases online, with only 14% sticking exclusively to brick-and-mortar stores.

Dealaid also examined top holiday shopping concerns among respondents, with prices (51%) in the top spot, followed by COVID-19 and in-stock availability of items (45% each). Other top concerns include shipping times (41%) and availability of personal funds (31%). 

The Dealaid survey also measured consumer attitudes toward buy now pay later (BNPL) services as a means of paying for holiday purchases.

Fourteen percent of respondents plan to use BNPL to finance their purchases during 2021 holiday shopping season. The most popular service provider among these respondents is Affirm (64%), followed by Klarna (36%), Afterpay (33%) and PayPal Pay in four (21%).

On average, respondents plan to spend $279 on purchases using buy now pay later during holiday shopping season in 2021. Respondents expect to spend 7% more, on average, with buy now pay later during the 2021 holiday shopping season as compared to 2020.

[Read more: Study: ‘Buy-now-pay-later’ usage set to explode]

Other interesting findings include:

• 36% of respondents plan to buy online and pick up in-store/curbside during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
• Four in 10 (39%) consumers expect to do the majority of their holiday shopping in 2021 throughout December. Other popular options include: prior to Thanksgiving (27.5%), Black Friday (17.5%) and Cyber Monday (10.8%).
• Target and Walmart remain the most popular retailers among respondents for the holiday season in 2021, at 34% and 30%, respectively. Other popular mentions were Costco (9%) and Kroger (7%).
• Two-thirds (66%) of consumers who plan to shop in-store expect to use credit cards as their preferred payment method, while 49% plan to use debit cards. Three in 10 (29%) plan to use cash, and 7% will pay via phone apps.