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The top customer peeves about holiday promotions are…

online christmas shopping
Retailers should wait to begin holiday promotions.

Timing and personalization are critical components of any holiday marketing campaign.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from digital experience platform Optimizely, respondents cited holiday advertisements (46%) and holiday decorations (40%) starting too early as their biggest pet peeves, followed by recurring targeted ads, irrelevant advertisements and too many communications from a brand (38% each).

In addition, one in three respondents said they have received irrelevant advertisements a few times a week this holiday season. Almost half (49%) of respondents indicated advertisements that note cost savings or discounts are the most important type of holiday ads, and 52% cited high costs as the main cause of holiday shopping fatigue.     

The survey also asked consumers about the impact of continuing supply chain disruptions on their holiday shopping experience. A substantial majority (84%) of respondents said clear communication on product stock, shipping times and expectations are important.

In addition, coming across out-of-stock notices is a major frustration for respondents when shopping on a retailer or brand’s website (60%) or mobile app (48%).  

When asked what factors are important in making holiday purchasing decisions, 80% of respondents said well-written content on a retailer or brand’s website. Three-quarters (76%) of respondents cited content or images pertaining to cost.

Almost half (49%) of respondents said advertisements, images and content focused on cost savings were most important to them overall, more than twice the percent who mentioned product quality (23%) or holiday imagery (18%).

When shopping on mobile apps, 32% of respondents said poor search functions and 31% said malfunctions were their biggest frustrations. For e-commerce websites, poor search functions (31%) and website malfunctions/discount codes not working (30%) were the biggest pain points.

Finally, more than eight in 10 (84%) respondents said user-friendly website layout and search functions were important to their overall shopping experience.

Ultimately, the holiday shopping experience provides a unique opportunity for brands to test their customer experience,” said Shafqat Islam, chief marketing officer, Optimizely. “If retailers struggle when the stakes are high, they may have to wait a whole other year to get things right with a customer – if they are lucky. That is why it’s imperative for brands to get customer experience right by creating content that resonates with the right audiences, running experiments at scale, and providing a digital brand experience customers will love.”

[Read More: Survey: Bad customer experience kills brand loyalty quickly]

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