Survey: Consumers will shop online more, spend less for the holidays

A survey indicates e-commerce retailers have a chance for a profitable holiday season — if they provide the right reasons to shop them.

According to a survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers conducted by digital customer experience technology provider Glassbox and Google Consumer Surveys in September 2020, 70% of respondents intend to make a majority of their upcoming holiday purchases via web or mobile. However, 39% plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year than in 2019.

The survey also revealed that a small 10% discount would encourage 42% of respondents to make an additional holiday purchase. Forty-six percent intend to purchase from small businesses, with 26% more likely to support small businesses than in the past. In addition, about one-third (32%) of respondents would be encouraged to spend more if they knew they were supporting a struggling industry.

Other interesting findings include:

•    83% of respondents believe a responsive online customer experience is important to their brand loyalty, with 39% identifying it as crucial.

•    49% of respondents believe that app crashes have a negative effect on their relationship with a brand – 25% think less of the brand and 24% are likely to move to a competitor.

•    42% of respondents are more likely to use a retailer’s native app as opposed to the web if there is a rewards or loyalty program and 34% if there is a more seamless user experience.