The Checkout 7.10 - Holiday Shopping

the

inside the in-store experience

powered by The Integer Group® and M/A/R/C® Research

IN THIS ISSUE

ISSUE 7.10 | HOLIDAY SHOPPER

• 36 percent of holiday shoppers buying pre-Thanksgiving are buying online.

• Trusting a retailer is the most important factor,even more so than price, for shoppers purchasingelectronics.

• Black Friday shopping is no longer just about savings, but the ritual that comes with the occasion itself.

The Holiday Shopper issue looks at buying attitudes and behavior around the largest shopping time period of the year. Which retailers are projected to win with deals this year? In light of the delayed economic recovery, are shoppers going to be more prone to stick with the everyday shop-to-save mentality? Beyond the push to save, where will the experience of shopping and quality of items come into play?

Holiday Shopping: When and Where Shoppers Will Spend This Year


Is Cyber Monday the New Black Friday?For the early-bird holiday shopper, online seems to be the channel of choice, capturing more than a third of shoppers when asked where they will do most of their shopping. After the Thanksgiving holiday, department stores seem to have the best draw for shoppers, which can probably be attributed to the fact that these retailers are considered to have the widest selection of products, allowing shoppers to check more items off their lists. During that critical Thanksgiving weekend, electronics stores see a large spike, likely due to shoppers looking for the best deals on some of the bigger-ticket items they will be buying during the season. Interestingly, online drops significantly Thanksgiving weekend as shoppers are clearly waiting for the following Monday to cash in on Cyber Monday deals.

Early-Bird Holiday Shoppers Buy Online

Issue 7.10

1/3+More than one-third of

early-bird shoppers buys online.

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12.7% 16.1% 19.3% 13.0%

5.1% 3.2% 1.3% 1.1%

29.1% 39.2% 31.9% 39.1%

1.9%

5.9% 5.2% 4.3%

36.1% 15.6% 28.7%

22.8%

1.9% 12.9% 4.7% 5.4%

13.3% 7.0% 9.0% 14.1%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Before Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Weekend December Last Minute

Other

Electronics

Online

Clothing

Department

Grocery

Mass/discount

Figure 1.0: When and Where Will You Do Most of Your Holiday Shopping?

Source: The Integer Group | M/A/R/C Research, October 2010, Checkout Study N = 1,135. www.shopperculture.com Q: Where do you expect to do most of your holiday shopping? Q: When do you expect to do most of your holiday shopping?


Experience Outweighs Price 3-to-1 in Clothing Channel

Issue 7.10

Shopper Motives Vary by Channel. Are Retailers Changing or Reinforcing Shoppers’ Expectations?For those looking for an enjoyable shopping experience, clothing stores are definitely the channel of choice, as well as having notoriety for shopability. Apparently, apparel shoppers even accept that the clothes-shopping experience may come at a higher cost, as clothing stores are the channel least known for having the best prices. The best price title, by no surprise, goes to the mass/discount channel which is clearly the choice when seeking low prices and the best overall value. While the Electronics category is shopped for a number of reasons, the most important reason is trust. Given that bigger-ticket items are probably key purchases here, it’s understandable that trust is a major factor.

25%of online shoppers shop online because it’s easy

for them to find the things they need.

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Figure 2.0: Reason for Shopping per Channel

Source: The Integer Group | M/A/R/C Research, October 2010, Checkout Study N = 1,135. www.shopperculture.com Q: Where do you expect to do most of your holiday shopping? Q: Why will you be doing most of your shopping at ________?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Clothin

g

Depart

ment

Electro

nics

Grocery

Mass/d

iscou

nt

Online

They have the widest selection of products

They have the best prices

Shopping there is a pleasurable experience

Provides a shopping environment that reflects who I am

Other (please specify)

Offers the best overall value

Is easy for me to find the things I need

Is a store brand I trust

I can get my shopping done faster

I can always find the brands that I want

Close by and convenient


New Deals Continue to Take Hold

Issue 7.10

Marketing Steers Shoppers’ Participation Year over year, we have seen an increase across the board in terms of shoppers buying on deal. The largest increase seems to be in the heavily marketed Last Minute, Black Friday and Early-Bird ‘Door Buster’ specials. These highly publicized deal events are clearly a hallmark of the season, showing 15–19% in sales growth from last year. Just behind in popularity are shoppers using simple deal mechanisms like BOGOs and instant rebates, which are most likely discovered in-store. Interestingly, e-mail offers saw respectable growth of just more than 10 percent from last year, including offers both in-store or online. There was a noticeable increase in a relatively new tactic from the last couple years: gift card savings. Offering a $40 gift card when shoppers spend $200 dollars or more rewards the shopper, but more importantly, drives a return trip, benefitting retailers. And while new technology is hot in the press, shoppers haven’t quite adopted it into their Holiday shopping routines, with “using coupons from social media or mobile apps” showing less than 3 percent growth.

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Figure 3.0: Participation in Specials and Sales YOY Growth

Source: The Integer Group | M/A/R/C Research – Checkout Studies: December 2009, N = 1,215 and October 2010, N = 1,135 Q: In the past, have you taken advantage of any of the following Holiday gift specials or sales?


Shifting Shopper Values

Issue 7.10

Shoppers’ Goals Rely Heavily on When They ShopWhether shoppers are doing most of their shopping on Black Friday, over Thanksgiving weekend, or on Cyber Monday, each has a clear goal in mind. Those venturing out on Black Friday tend to fall into one of two modes of focused shopping: the first mode is, of course, shopping based on price. The second mode is quite the opposite—and centers around the experience, or ritual of getting up early with family or friends the morning after the holiday to look for quality items. Thanksgiving weekend shoppers, while slightly dipping down into the price-sensitive realm, are mostly after the novelty that comes with shopping during this time frame. And Cyber Monday shoppers are mostly after saving time and buying quality items. Knowing bigger-ticket items, like flat-screen TVs, are typically purchased on this day, it’s no surprise that quality is given high importance here. Also, the time factor is likely another big benefit in an effort to avoid pushing through the large crowds shopping in the store.

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age

Figure 4.0: When Shoppers Buy Correlated With the Value Equation

Source: The Integer Group | M/A/R/C Research – Checkout Study, October 2010, N = 1,225. Q: When do you expect to do most of your holiday shopping? Q. For each of the four priorities, please pick a number from 1—10 to indicate how important it is to you when you are doing routine shopping.

Black Friday

Cyber Monday Thanksgiving

Weekend

Quality

Price

Time Experience


What Does This All Mean?

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Shoppers Are More Savvy.Shoppers, especially during the holiday time period, are more savvy than ever before. While, yes, they still seek out deals, they are also hunting in new and more interesting ways. Their behavior continues to evolve as they become more purposeful throughout the different steps in the decision-making process. They are making channel decisions based on specific needs now. They have more thoughtful plans, where they will buy early online and then shift to shopping via department stores later on in the season depending on goals and needs.

Knowing the holiday time period is the largest shopping occasion of the year only further confirms how important it is for retailers and brands alike to recognize these major shifts. And not only recognizing but deciding whether or not they will foster new behaviors and mind-sets, or continue playing to the old ways. While some brands may continue to play in the price and time areas of the value equation, we expect that more contemporary brands will use more experiential merchandising techniques, playing up the quality of their products this season (please see figure 4.0). Which school of thought will your brand adhere to this holiday season?

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powered by The Integer Group® and M/A/R/C® ResearchIssue 7.10

The Integer Group® is one of the world’s largest promotional, retail, and shopper marketing agen-cies, and a key member of TBWA Worldwide. Integer lives at the Intersection of Branding and Selling and creates strategic marketing solutions for clients in categories that include retail, bever-age, packaged goods, telecommunications, home and shelter, automotive aftermarket, and power sports. Integer has more than 1,200 employ-ees, with global offices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. Join the conversation on shopping culture and brand strategy at www.ShopperCulture.com.

The Integer GroupCraig ElstonSr. VP, Insight & [email protected] West Alaska DriveLakewood, CO 80226

M/A/R/C® Research is a brand development firm dedicated to helping clients create, evaluate, and strengthen their brands. Our teams design and execute qualitative and quantitative, tradi-tional, and online solutions while adhering to a client-service ethic built on being easy to work with and delivering what is promised. Our core competency is measuring attitudes and behaviors to accurately explain and predict market share,revenue, and bottom-line impact of a client’s actions. We help our clients address consumer, channel, and B2B marketing issues to launch better products and services attract and retain valuable customers, and build stronger brands. Our proven, marketing-issue-focused solutions support clients’ brand-building efforts.

M/A/R/C ResearchRandy WahlEVP, Advanced [email protected] North Westridge CircleIrving, TX 75038

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The Checkout is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,200 U.S. adults conducted monthly by M/A/R/C Research. Please contact us to learn more about the data we collect or additional analysis.

©2010 by The Integer Group® and M/A/R/C® Research. All rights reserved.The data contained in this report may be reproduced in any form as long as the data is cited from The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research. www.ShopperCulture.com.

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The Checkout 7.10 - Holiday Shopping

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Transcript of The Checkout 7.10 - Holiday Shopping