CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the 2015 holiday shopping season quickly approaches, consumers are already inundated with advertisements claiming to have the “best deals of the season.” The latest survey conducted by Market Track, a leading provider of competitive intelligence solutions based on comprehensive analysis of the advertising and promotional landscape, reveals where shoppers across various age groups are looking for the top deals this holiday season.
“Our survey results clearly indicate variations in how different demographics are planning their holiday shopping strategy, with Millennials leveraging the highest number of methods to look for deals across print circulars, retailer websites, email, TV, social media and mobile,” said Traci Gregorski, vice president of marketing at Market Track.
Despite the suggested decline in the relevance of print promotions, the nationwide survey of 1,000 shoppers showed evidence to the contrary, although there is disparity among age groups. 60% of shoppers surveyed between the ages of 21-29 and 82% of shoppers over 60-years old ranked print circulars as one of the top media types they will use to find sales and deals this holiday shopping season. Retailer websites followed closely with nearly 60% of shoppers across all age groups going online to look for sales.
While print circulars and retailer websites were ranked as the top two media types shoppers will use to find deals, the survey also found that TV is a major driver across all age groups. Over fifty percent of respondents listed television ads as a resource.
“Retailers are offering significant savings earlier than ever and as a result shoppers are becoming conditioned to look for sales across all channels well ahead of Black Friday,” continued Gregorski. “Cross-channel competition makes it more difficult for retailers to reach all audiences if they take a ‘one-size fits all’ approach. Also, with the digital channel being used as a reactive mechanism due to its agility, there will be increased pressure to have competitive visibility from the shopper’s point of view.”
The survey also found other significant holiday shopping consumer trends:
- In-store versus online: The majority of survey respondents plan on shopping in-store at Walmart this holiday season followed closely by Target. Amazon ranked first for online shopping, followed by Walmart, then Target. Jet.com ranked last out of the 15 retailers included in the survey.
- Buy online, pick up in-store is increasing in popularity: 44% of shoppers across all ages plan to purchase something online to be picked up in-store, with those in the 30-39 group having the highest propensity to leverage this option.
- Webrooming trumps showrooming: 78% plan to do research online then go buy the product in-store, while only 50% of shoppers plan to use their smartphones while in-store to compare prices at other retailers.
- Millennials are most likely to practice showrooming: While shopping in-store, 65% of Millennials will use their smartphone to check prices from other retailers, compared to only 20% of those over 60.
- Younger shoppers are most socially influenced: Over half of those 21-29 will use social media to research gift ideas and find deals while holiday shopping, compared to less than 20% of those 60 and over.
Overall, whether in-store or online, best prices were cited by the majority of respondents as the deciding factor, with selection and positive past experience also playing a large role in driving where people shop.
About the Survey
Market Track conducted a survey of 1,000 shoppers. Shoppers were asked about their own holiday shopping behaviors. Survey respondents represented even distribution across gender and representative sampling across age groups.
About Market Track
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Market Track is the leading provider of subscription-based advertising, brand and pricing intelligence solutions in North America. Through monitoring trade and promotional advertising, pricing and e-commerce activity, brand protection and competitive advertising activity, Market Track provides the most comprehensive coverage of key media channels available. Offered via web-based software-as-a-service platforms, Market Track’s solutions enable advertisers, agencies, retailers, and manufacturers of consumer goods to efficiently monitor and analyze causal data, creative execution, and ad spending to maximize the value of their marketing campaigns. Clients use Market Track’s capabilities to determine how competing retailers, products and brands are being advertised, priced and promoted both in-store and online. The company’s granular creative assets and data cover nearly every retail trade class, product category and media channel. For more information, please visit, www.markettrack.com.
