Marketers often look at last year’s holiday trends to understand how to plan this year’s advertising campaigns. But looking to the past—like what happened during Black Friday 2019—won’t be enough to prepare for Holiday Season 2020. So this time around, we decided to go right to the source of holiday trends 2020: shoppers themselves.
In our “Peak to Recovery” research, fielded in May 2020, we surveyed 1,300+ US consumers to ask how they were planning to discover, buy, and give over the coming months. In our first of four holiday mini-guides, “What to Expect for Holiday 2020: 5 Key Consumer Trends”, we dive into the findings.
Here’s a preview of five holiday trends every business should be prepared for in 2020:
Holiday Trend #1: Ecommerce
All gift-givers and holiday shoppers will lean on ecommerce, and many will also want to visit stores.
According to data from 14,000 retailers globally, Criteo found that online retail sales were 30% higher in the Americas—and 17% higher worldwide—during the two weeks from June 15 – June 28, compared to a pre-pandemic average from February 2 – February 14.1 In the meantime, research from Signifyed shows that BOPIS (buy online pick up in-store) orders more than doubled globally.2
In our “Peak to Recovery” study, conducted in May across 12 countries, we asked how comfortable US consumers felt across the next few months doing certain activities3:
- 64% miss going to physical stores.
- 65% are already or will be comfortable going to shopping malls by mid-October.
- 88% plan to continue purchasing gifts online and sending them to recipients.
Holiday Marketing Insight
These are great signs for the end-of-year peak shopping season. Heightened safety measures like requiring facemasks and reducing the number of people inside might make the store experience feel a bit different, but as our research shows, by the time Black Friday 2020 rolls around, most US consumers will be ready to shop in stores.
Increased ecommerce sales during the coronavirus outbreak also indicate that more consumers than ever are familiar with new ecommerce websites and will likely visit them again for the holidays.
Holiday Marketing Tip
If you’re a brand, think about how to get in front of Black Friday shoppers where they are already searching for deals (like on retailer websites). If you have physical locations, consider offering online discounts for buying in-store to drive holiday foot traffic.
Holiday Trend #2: Loyalty
Driving loyalty from new online shoppers will be a big holiday opportunity.
In our survey, we asked US consumers about product discovery and purchases3:
- 39% purchased from some online stores for the first time during the peak of COVID-19.
- 37% discovered brands selling their products directly to consumers.
- 33% discovered small merchants that they didn’t previously know about.
- 83% said they’re likely to keep purchasing from the new stores they discovered.
Holiday Marketing Insight
Consumers discovered new favorites during lockdown across online grocers, brand websites, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses. Better yet, they’ll keep going back if they were happy with the product and the experience.
Holiday Marketing Tip
Evolve your brand creatives and messaging to reflect your target audience’s current situation and context. Most importantly, create additional touchpoints with shoppers who visited you over the past few months by serving up relevant offers appropriate for the holiday season.
Holiday Trend #3: Apps
Apps will influence holiday shoppers across every stage of the funnel.
Data from AppsFlyer shows that as of June 25, shopping app revenue in the US has more than doubled since lockdowns began in mid-March. Other non-gaming apps, including those in the Food Delivery, Finance, and Lifestyle categories, have also seen significant revenue spikes.4
Criteo’s Global App Survey, conducted in April, found that among US consumers:
- 33% said they use one or more of their newly downloaded shopping apps multiple times per week.
- 45% heard about an app from family, friends, or co-workers.
- 51% downloaded at least one shopping app during the coronavirus outbreak.
Holiday Marketing Insight
Our survey also found that respondents’ most downloaded apps in the prior six months were retail shopping apps (60%), gaming apps (59%), and streaming apps (56%). Additionally, 50% said they don’t mind watching or seeing in-app ads if they get free content in exchange.
App marketers should focus on attracting new audiences and targeting the best potential app users in the long run. This new market will likely become more comfortable with apps and be on the lookout for others.
Holiday Marketing Tip
The holiday season is a great time to think about building a new user base for your app, especially ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s also a good time to bring users back. App retargeting re-engages users who may have abandoned the app, targeting the best possible audiences.
Holiday Trend #4: Lifestyle
Consumers’ new lifestyles will guide holiday gift choices.
In our “Peak to Recovery” Survey, US consumers told us about the habits and behaviors of theirs that have changed. Over half (55%) said the crisis was a good opportunity to make lifestyle changes.3
Many Americans discovered or rediscovered activities that they plan to continue:
- 52% cooking at home
- 50% spending time at home
- 36% exercising at home
- 26% working from home
- 25% gardening
Holiday Trend #5: Travel
Holiday season travelers will keep their visits local – or virtual.
In our “Peak to Recovery” survey, we asked US consumers about travel:3
- 62% are looking forward to traveling again.
- 64% will be wary of planes and trains for some time.
By the beginning of holiday season in mid-October:
- 68% will be comfortable going on weekend trips.
- 50% will be comfortable taking a train.
- 47% will be comfortable travelling by plane.
Holiday Marketing Insight
We expect comfort levels to rise as time goes by, but this holiday, people are more likely to take short trips, and long-haul flights will tick up more in 2021. This could have an impact on how people visit family members during the holiday season, too, and result in more virtual dinners and celebrations.
Criteo data shows that travel is beginning to show signs of recovery. In the first week of July in the US:
- Searches for summer travel were up 99% for hotels and 45% for airlines.6
- Travels in September and October took up a larger share of searches this year compared to 2019
Article Credit www.criteo.com
