Survey: 93% of US Consumers Plan to Buy Holiday Gifts Online

Shopify partnered with analytics and advice firm Gallup to ask 1,761 US consumers how, when, and where they intend to buy holiday gifts this year. Here are the most important insights from the newest Holiday Shopping Pulse survey.

Shopify’s survey reveals that despite the tough economic climate, most of the surveyed US shoppers (74%) plan to spend the same amount or more on holiday gifts compared to last year. Of all generations, Gen Z feels most generous, with 37% expecting to spend more than last year. That’s almost double the average of other generation groups.

41% of holiday shoppers plan to start buying gifts by the end of October. That said, last-minute shopping is still popular, with 39% of consumers intending to postpone it until November. One-fifth of shoppers say they will wait until December.

Roughly one in four US consumers (23%) intend to buy their holiday gifts from small and local businesses. Shopify advises creating special promotions for Small Business Saturday, which falls on November 25 – the day after Black Friday – to increase sales during the holiday season.

Respondents also indicated that they prefer to shop for holiday gifts online, with as many as 93% planning to buy at least some gifts online and nearly half (47%) intending to get most of their gifts online.

Furthermore, almost half (48%) of Gen Z consumers plan to buy at least some holiday gifts through social media, and just as many would purchase them early if brands offered holiday deals and promotions. Other age groups aren’t as stimulated by early holiday deals compared to Gen Z shoppers, with an average of 28% intending to buy gifts on early sales.

These figures suggest e-commerce businesses are in a potentially favorable position over exclusively brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season.

Cost-effective e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Squarespace allow businesses to set up online shops in as little as a day. In addition, these platforms offer plenty of industry-specific marketing and promotion tools for sellers to stand out in the sea of online retailers and engage holiday shoppers.