Commentary

65% Research Online, Then Head to the Store

by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, November 12, 2013

The holiday shopping surveys are now coming out fast and furiously and all signs are pointing to many shoppers being very busy on their mobile devices.

Some new stats from the Accenture 2013 Holiday Shopping Survey show that many (38%) of shoppers will be heading to stores on Thanksgiving Day, though a large number (41%) won’t be out until 6 p.m. or later.

The shoppers also will be on the move, with more than a third (38%) visiting four or more stores.

When in stores, more people this year will be showrooming this year (63%) compared to last year (56%), according to Accenture, which is a higher projection than some other surveys.

Somewhat the reverse of that also is expected to be relatively high this year, with the majority (65%) of shoppers browsing online and then heading to a store for the actual purchase.

Younger shoppers are the most likely to shop on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, with more than half (55%) of 18-to-24-year-olds likely to shop on Thanksgiving

Once in the store, a third (33%) of those shopping with smartphones expect to use their mobile device to compare prices inside the store.

On Thanksgiving, more women (42%) than men (31%) are likely to be shopping and more women (58%) than men (49%) are expected to on Black Friday as well.

Shopping on Black Friday is forecast to be at the highest level in five years, with the majority (55%) of consumers likely to shop on that day, which is slightly higher than last year (53%).

More shoppers this year (30%) are expected to do most of their Black Friday shopping online, compared to last year (25%), according to Accenture.

A growing number of consumers will buy or research gifts using smartphones (18%) and tablets (19%), both increased from last year.

And as shown in many studies, shoppers will be looking for deals with almost half (48%) expecting the best discounts to be on Thanksgiving, Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

And it looks like the shoppers will be out in droves looking to capitalize on those deals.

holiday, mcommerce, mobile, retail

3 comments about "65% Research Online, Then Head to the Store".

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Pete Austin from Fresh Relevance, November 13, 2013 at 1:54 a.m.
Another of these bizarre surveys. They don't publish enough information to assess the methodology, but this quote shows the problem: "Gift cards (56%),
apparel (54%) and to a lesser extent
toys (44%), will be on most shopping
lists this year". Pretty much nobody buys gift cards on 56% of their shopping trips. You know what's on more lists? - eggs, milk, fruit, bread - and I doubt even 1% of people showroom before buying them. Oh well, here's the PDF: http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Holiday-Survey-Results-2013-Slideshow.pdf
Reply

Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, November 13, 2013 at 10:18 a.m.

Thanks for your comments, Pete. The line from the research gift cards in the Accenture study you quote refers to being on a list, not being done in the store. Hope this helps.

Kevin Horne from Verizon, November 14, 2013 at 11:09 a.m.

Thanks for the link Pete. Come to find out that 63% DON'T "showroom" - the question asked there was "go to a store THEN search online" - and at that only 23% were "very likely"...as to the claim that 33% check prices in-store on a phone I don't see that in any of the data - I see 12%...