Shoppers Want Email Offers Before The Holidays, Social Media Is Second

Email is the preferred channel for 35% of consumers approaching this holiday season. And 38% say email is most likely to catch their attention, according to Optimove’s 2022 Consumer Holiday Retail Shopping Survey.

Social media is a distant second as a preference, although 21% say it is most likely to grab attention. Text is favored by 12% and 13% cite it as an attention-getter.

The bad news is that 48% do not trust online retailers with their personal information. Amazon is trusted by 35%, but Facebook by only 4% and Twitter by 2%.   

And consumers demand relevant offers. They say:

  • I get too many offers so relevancy is key — 32%
  • I don’t mind if the offer isn’t tailored, it expands my shopping options — 30%
  • I ignore most offers from retailers — 26%
  • I unsubscribe from retailers who give me irrelevant offers — 12%

Of those who unsubscribe, 54% do so with 1-5 brands, 10% with 6-10 and 5% with more than 10. But 31% never unsubscribe from brands.  

Loyalty will be important this holiday season: 52% will try new stores/brands, but 48% will go only to stores they have shopped at before.  

Price is the biggest factor for 82%, and service for only 18%.

In addition, 69% want to get offers from their preferred retailer, while the remaining 31% do not. 

Contrary to some other reports, consumers are shopping early — 59% will not wait until Black Friday. And 24% will start in October, while 15% are doing so in September. And 11% began before August. Only 10% expect to shop in December. 

November is the big month, with 34% starting their shopping then. 

But they want sales — 30% begin their shopping early because the offers are too good to pass up. 

For firms sending emails, please note that shoppers want offers at different times prior to a holiday: 

  • 1-10 days before — 11%
  • 11-20 days — 16%
  • 21-30 days — 24%
  • 31-60 days — 31%
  • 60+ days — 13%
  • Other — 3%

Optimove surveyed 514 U.S. citizens in September 2022. Of those, 80% will shop at brick-and-mortar retailers and 96% are also shopping online. 

 

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