According to Brand Keys consultancy’s annual national survey, 65% of the consumers interviewed indicated that they used or planned to use their mobile devices to research shopping options for the upcoming holiday season.
While spending is expected to be strong during the 2013 holiday season, the survey predicts that actual per-retailer spending may be down by as much as 5% as shoppers seek deeper discounts to save money.
Increased use of mobile outreach and planning, coupled with an increased number of retail-developed mobile apps, means traditional retailers will have to truly work to engage consumers if they want their share of a projected $825 for the average 2013 holiday spend. That figure is 5% lower than 2012, according to the survey by Brand Keys, a brand loyalty and customer engagement research consultancy.
But for Brand Keys Founder and President Robert Passikoff, that doesn’t mean people won’t still be shopping in brick-and-mortar stores.
“Everyone is always talking about price checking and now everyone is wanting something around mobile,” Passikoff told Loyalty 360. “There’s a market tranquility for certain things – mobile or retail. We have always heard about consumers being in control. Finally, the control is right in their hands.”
Brick-and-mortar stores won’t suffer because of mobile’s impact, Passikoff said.
“They will still shop there,” he said. “The shift is in the time and the shift is in the price. You’re getting to that point of equilibrium in the marketplace due to mobile. It’s likely you can find whatever you want at a comfortable price point and you won’t have to start in September. Folks are still going to shop. Don’t confuse mobile outreach with going online because everyone is shopping online.”
Passikoff said retailers who figure out how to integrate what they’re doing with store experience and mobile reach will receive the greatest share in a reduced holiday spend this year.
“I don’t think mobile stops people from going to stores,” Passikoff said. “It’s helping them with where they target, what they shop, and at what price.”
Only 19% of shoppers surveyed indicated that they started shopping for the holidays in October, 5% fewer than 2012. Passikoff attributes this to a calmer feel in the holiday marketplace this year.
“We're not seeing the 'Buy Now!' or 'Lay-It-Away' advertising we saw in recent years,’’’ he said.
Nearly (45%) half of perspective shoppers indicated they would begin shopping in November, with most consumers (35%) indicating they intended to wait for the traditional Thanksgiving Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Nearly everyone (98%) surveyed indicated they’d buy some holiday gift online. Most (94%) will shot at discount department stores, followed by traditional department stores (76%), specialty & apparel stores (45%), and electronics stores (30%).
The only traditional outlet that dipped significantly was catalogs (50%) – down 18% from last year.
Gift cards are huge, with nearly everyone (95%) indicating they’ll buy at least one this year.
Brand Keys annually conducts interviews with 15,200 consumers in the nine U.S. census regions during the last week of October and first week of November in regard to anticipated holiday spending attitudes and activities.