• by Ray Schultz , November 20, 2018

Email marketers should be buoyed by the news that 38% of consumers worldwide plan to make purchases online this holiday season -- up from 32% last year, according to a study by One Hour Translation, a translation agency.  

The growth rate is slightly less in the U.S., with 39% of shoppers expecting to buy online, versus 35% in 2017. In Britain, 33% foresee buying online, up from 28% in 2017. Globally, 61% have no plans for online purchases, versus 65% in 2017.

Black Friday shopping in the U.S. will grow to 18% versus 15% in the prior year. Cyber Monday will also hit 18%, compared to 16% in 2017.

However, Black Friday will experience declines in much of the world. For example, the Canadian rate is expected to drop from 26% to 21%, the rate for France from 21% to 16%, the rate for Germany from 19% to 13% and the rate for Japan from 10% to 4%.

Globally, the Black Friday shopping rate will fall from 18% to 17%. 

“If U.S. e-commerce companies want to stop the weakening of Black Friday in Europe and Japan, they should direct their marketing efforts towards these territories,” states Yaron Kaufman, CMO and co-founder of One Hour Translation.

Kaufman adds, “Among other measures, U.S. companies should consider localizing their websites to the languages of their target countries, since many studies have proven that consumers over the globe preferring making purchases in their own mother tongue." 

Cyber Monday holds steady at 6% worldwide. In addition, 7% will buy on Christmas and Boxing Day, a holiday celebrated primarily in the UK. 

The largest holiday increase was for the Chinese holiday Singles’ Day on November 11, which this year grew from 1% to 4%. 

Using Google Surveys, One Hour Translation surveyed 762 consumers in the U.S., and from 667 to 788 apiece in Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.