Santa has yet to ride down 34th Street in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the turkey has yet to be carved, but nearly 50% of consumers say they’ve already started making holiday gift purchases amid inventory shortages and rising prices.
In the 2021 Holiday Shopping Outlook study, a PYMNTS and Kount collaboration, researchers found that only 25% of consumers are waiting until Black Friday to start holiday shopping and only 11% are waiting until Cyber Monday, with 48% making purchases before Thanksgiving.
See the study: The 2021 Holiday Shopping Outlook: Why Convenience And Personalization Will Be Key
Another 9% say they’ll wait until after Cyber Monday but before the week of Christmas to start shopping, while the most daring of shoppers will leave it to the last minute, with 3% starting the week of Christmas.
For the most part, consumers plan to spend about the same amount on gifts this year as they did last year, at 55% of overall consumers, though 19% say they’ll be spending more. Among those making only online holiday purchases — which accounts for nearly 15% of shoppers — one-third plan to spend more and 45% plan to spend amount the same amount.
Nearly 18% of all holiday shoppers and 11% of digital-only shoppers plan to spend less this year than last year, with 9% and 11%, respectively, telling researchers they’re unsure of their spending plans.
With Generation Z starting to come into more disposable income, it may come as no surprise that they’re the most likely to be spending more, at 31%. Baby boomers and seniors are the most likely to be spending about the same or less than last year, at 81% of the cohort, though Gen X is not far behind at 78%.
Consumer Preferences
Despite the surge in interest for buy now, pay later (BNPL) services over the past year, only 3% of consumers say it’s the most important payment method for shopping online during the holidays, up from 1.6% who said it was most important last year.
Shoppers’ preferred payment methods remain credit cards, which 39% of consumers said was most important both last year and this year, and debit cards, which 34% said is most important. PayPal’s importance in consumers’ minds dropped slightly this year, to 13%, while digital wallets remained just under 6%.
Read more: NEW DATA: Nearly 90% of US Consumers Plan Online Holiday Purchases in 2021 — 13% More Than in 2020
Consumers are also looking to shop with retailers they know can provide a seamless and consistent experience. Almost half of shoppers say they’re very or extremely interested in brands that can provide a consistent experience in-store and online, and 42% say the same for a simplified checkout process because a merchant has saved their information.
Additionally, 58% say over the next 12 months, they would be very or extremely interested in merchants that provide rewards for returning customers or repeat purchases.
