The top customer peeves about holiday promotions are…

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]