It goes without saying that holiday shopping will look a little different this year. From lower shopping budgets to fear of items selling out, consumers have been reacting to the effects of COVID-19 all year and the holiday season will be no exception. Even with strict precautions in place to ensure the safety of consumers while shopping in-store, many will turn to online shopping platforms to purchase holiday gifts. Here are a few trends worth noting as we prepare for the busiest time of the year.
Shopping early to maximize time
At surface level, our Slickdeals users visit us to find good deals. When you dig deeper, you find that our users visit Slickdeals to find the best deals on the best products on a site they trust.
This year we’ve seen a shift towards smarter spending and an increase in consumers identifying themselves as frugal, meaning they’re focused on maximizing the total value of their money and their time. In a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slickdeals, we found that 65% of respondents said the COVID-19 pandemic converted them into a frugal person.
According to a report from Think with Google, 62% of US shoppers said they would start their holiday shopping earlier this year to avoid items going out of stock. Additionally, the search for “best affordable” has increased globally by over 60% YoY. Earlier shopping paired with a desire to find the best deals means looking beyond the top holiday shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and maximizing exposure throughout the entirety of the shopping season.
Safer shopping means more online purchases
In addition to smarter spending, we see a trend this year of safer shopping. According to McKinsey & Company’s 2020 Holiday Season report, 37% of respondents said they intend to spend more money online shopping during the holidays this year than the year prior. With an influx in online holiday shopping traffic, it’s important that brands optimize their digital strategies and offerings for consumers this year, turning towards solutions such as social commerce platforms.
Propelling users through the shopping funnel
Because of Slickdeals’ unique positioning and our highly engaged community, we’re able to propel shoppers through the purchase funnel faster than our competitors. With an emphasis on community engagement, shoppers are able to achieve quick research results in the form of votes, reviews, comments, pricing comparisons, and more from their peers which facilitates quicker movement through the consideration and research phases of the shopping journey. This results in reduced friction, improved conversion rates, and an overall superior shopping experience for the consumer.
Interested in engaging our transaction-ready audience this (extended) holiday shopping season? Get started with Slickdeals today!
