Figures, Facts & Insights from Last Year’s Holiday Season, and How to Learn from Them
Soon, the most expected I-don’t-wanna-miss-a-thing period of the year for marketers will be here: the Holiday Season. Data has been collected through the years, which means marketers are getting to know their audience more and more as time goes by. The 2018 Holiday Season has thus provided us with tons of insights which not only will enrich our marketing experience, but they will also give us an idea of where customers are standing at the moment. What do they want, and what do they like? What’s the typical customer behaviour? Let’s find out!
Millie D'Arcangelo
Copy Writer at The Next Ad
Sep 10, 2019
If you’re a marketer, the Holiday Season brings along opportunities for your business, such as introducing it to your potential customers or increasing engagement with the current ones. If you’re a shopper, the brands that matter to you the most will get to you through digital advertising. In this way, you’ll be able to have those magical holidays you’ve been expecting all along.
For these special moments, it’s great to analyse previous years and find their takeaway to know more about our customer’s shopping behaviour. So, what have we learnt about the 2018 Holiday Season? Let’s see what the figures, facts, and insights from the last season are, and what we can do about and with them.
Online shopping is rising, but in-store purchases are too
According to Facebook’s statistics, in the 2018 Holiday Season, 93% of shoppers turned to technology. This means that, whenever they wish to purchase products in this period, customers find it convenient to interact with online stores. What does this mean for advertisers? Online marketing has thus increased massively, allowing businesses to reach the right customers at the right time.
The Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey, whose results correspond to the 2018 Holiday Season, has shown that 76% of shoppers planned to use their desktop computer or laptop for purchases. Furthermore, 46% of them decided to use mobile devices. Although the former is leading, the latter is significantly growing as time goes by.
However, Facebook has also found out that customers seeking to purchase products for the holiday period frequently turn to brick-and-mortar stores.
As shown by their findings, shoppers buy in-store primarily because they wish to see the products in person. Yet that’s not the only reason; customers find emotional benefits such as the ‘holiday ambience’ or ‘spending time with their family’. Without going shopping, their holiday experience isn’t really fulfilled.
Social media, the Holiday Season’s best friend
Social media has recently become indispensable for almost everything. So, the fact that shoppers turn to platforms such as Facebook or Instagram is clearly to be expected.
Turning to the Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey once again, it’s useful to highlight that 23% of shoppers planned to use social media to enrich their holiday shopping process. Some of them pay attention to their family and friends, others to brands, retailers, or celebrities. This means that recommendations from other people on social media are of the utmost importance, and, after all, isn’t that how we promote ourselves making use of digital advertising?
Facebook figures are handy when seeking to find specific insights. For example, during the festive season, 63% of shoppers said they either watched or posted videos in stories across platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat.
This brings us to the following point: stories are becoming the biggest influencers during the Holiday Season. Likewise, videos created by ‘influencers’ helped buyers decide which product was the best one to purchase.
What can we infer from these figures? As marketers, we’ve got the opportunity to enhance our digital advertising experience. Why not focus on stories as placement for your ads? Simultaneously, why not keep your business page up-to-date with the latest information, so that shoppers can interact with you through these platforms?
Furthermore, more and more customers are reaching out to businesses through Messenger. This is due to the increase of social media usage, and it can definitely give us an insight into what areas are essential to strengthen during the Holiday Season. The stats say that 65% of holiday shoppers claim they’re more likely to purchase products from businesses they can message with. It might thus be useful to own a quick-responsive, efficient message service!
Holiday dates: when do customers purchase?
We all know what our weaknesses are as shoppers: massive discounts and exclusive offers. So, the fact that Black Friday is the busiest traffic day of the year shouldn’t come as a surprise. Plus, Cyber Monday is the largest online shopping day. Busy months are ahead of us!
But when do customers purchase? 60% of holiday shoppers will start shopping before Thanksgiving. On top of it, they’ll spend more than late shoppers, which is brilliant for marketers.
What do we advise? Don’t hesitate and start advertising before these dates! If you’ve got relevant campaigns launched on time, your Holiday Season experience will be much better. The benefits are immeasurable; not only will you get more purchases, but you’re also more likely to gain new customers.
The calendar below will show you when exactly these dates are and will assist you with the planning for the 2019 Holiday Season. Click here to download it.
Final thoughts
With the Holiday Season around the corner, if you strive for the best results, being as precise as possible is essential. The 2018 Holiday Season, in this case, provides us with detailed information from which we can easily profit.
So, taking these insights into consideration, what are you going to do for this year’s Holiday Season? Are you strengthening your social media and/or online presence? Are you going towards meticulous planning so that your ads are placed at the right place at the right time? Whatever your strategy is, the 2019 Holiday Season will, for sure, be profitable for every marketer who’s out there. Happy times!
Would you like an expert to guide you through the Holiday Season marketing planning? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our customer support agents at success@tnasuite.com or via the live chat!
