Survey: This factor keeps holiday shoppers happy

Shipping costs are important, but not the top motivator for consumers during the holidays.

According to the 2019 Consumer Shopping Holiday Report from Rakuten Marketing, 58% of consumers say price affects their holiday shopping decisions the most. Broken down into specific pricing areas, 43% of consumers are most incentivized by sales and deals, almost double the 23% who focus most on shipping costs. Other popular motivators include coupons (15%) and rebates (13%).

The survey also examined generational differences in holiday shopping behavior. Sixty-two percent of millennial and Gen Z consumers age 18-34, as well as 60% of Gen X consumers age 35-54, prefer spending money for holiday purchases online. However, 53% of baby boomers age 55-plus prefer holiday shopping in a physical store.

In addition, millennial and Gen Z consumers are much more likely than other generations (45%) to browse and purchase holiday gifts on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Across generations, 44% of consumers use social media for gift inspiration, while 64% are likely to buy a gift that was brought to their attention by advertising. 

Although 60% of consumers have adjusted their spending due to recession concerns, 72% plan to spend up to $1,000 on holiday gifts this year.

Rakuten also created a “holiday shopper timeline” that divided consumers by when they perform holiday shopping. The five categories are:

•    Early birds who begin as early as July (19%). Forty-one percent of early birds used Prime Day as an opportunity to save money on holiday gifts.

•    Winter shoppers who focus all their holiday shopping on the months of November and December (29%).

•    Bargain hunters who tailor their holiday shopping around sales days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday (17%). Two-thirds (66%) of bargain hunters shop on Black Friday.

•    Sporadic shoppers who make holiday purchases throughout the season, with 36% stating they are not motivated by sales (22%).

•    Last-minute shoppers who wait until the weeks before Christmas (13%). Forty-three percent of last-minute shoppers are not motivated by discounts or sales.