It's the Preseason: Half of Holiday Shoppers Hit Stores Before November 1

Now that the NFL is finally into its regular season its time for another preseason activity: Holiday shopping. And it starts weeks before Thanksgiving.

A new report from the online retail hub RetailMeNot, Inc. shows that holiday shopping this season is expected to ramp up during the first week of November, and almost half of consumers in the survey said they plan to do some of their gift shopping before November 1. Last year on November 7, RetailMeNot saw a 21% uptick in shoppers searching for deals. Deal seeking remains top of mind with more than 60% of consumers surveyed planning to shop sales and promotions, up from 51% in 2015.

The survey, titled “Unwrapping Holiday Insights: The 2016 Retailer Guide to Consumer Trends,” explores the shopping habits of consumers during the holiday season, including trends for retailers to keep an eye on in 2016. The report includes a combination of RetailMeNot’s internal data based on millions of consumer actions and tens of thousands of retailers’ promotions, in addition to two consumer surveys conducted by Google Consumer Surveys and Kelton Global for RetailMeNot.

Holiday Shoppers Start Early and More Are Searching for Deals
“It’s important for retailers to ensure they enter consumers’ consideration set early in the season,” said Marissa Tarleton, chief marketing officer of North America for RetailMeNot, Inc. “Having the right promotional mix is key for reaching these shoppers.”

Mobile Drives Shoppers In-Store
Nearly 3 in 4 shoppers (73%) say they are planning to shop in brick-and-mortar stores this season, and 50% said that the deals they find will help them determine which days to shop in-store. The top mobile shopping days continue to coincide with the biggest in-store shopping days, with Black Friday taking the #1 spot followed by the weekend before Christmas. The top three categories where shoppers wish to see more in-store offers this year are home and garden, multi-category, and health and beauty.

“We continue to see mobile content drive more sales and foot traffic for brick-and-mortar stores,” says Tarleton. “Retailers have a big opportunity to acquire new customers this holiday season via their mobile marketing efforts.”

More Deals Bring More Joy This Season
Shoppers will do just about anything for a good deal during the holidays. In fact, 46% would spend a full day hunting online for the best price, 26% would travel more than an hour to visit a store with a great deal, and 23% plan to line up outside store doors before they open in order to snag the best prices on the hottest products.

Women prefer free shipping options more than men (35% vs. 26%), while males tend to lean more toward specific product deals than females (21% vs. 14%). Overall, though, free shipping leads the pack with 31% of the general population citing that they are likely to spend more money with a brand or retailer who offers to pick up those costs, followed by a percent off the total purchase (28%) and specific product deals (17%), which round out the top three preferred savings methods.

Shoppers will be seeking deals in these categories:

Electronics (smartphones, TVs, etc.): 56% Clothing and Shoes: 51% Toys: 31% Restaurants and Entertainment: 20% Jewelry: 18% Travel: 15%

While consumers plan to hit the shops more this season, they also plan on dining out more frequently for a post-shopping nosh. Nearly half of shoppers (45%) say they dine out most often during the holiday season, and 66% of them are more likely to look for restaurant savings before they chow down.

The full study is at www.retailmenot.com/holidayinsights2016.

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