One Million Consumers Dish On The Holiday Shopping Season

InfoScout researched the shopping habits of nearly 1 million consumers and released its top seven predictions for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

By capturing data from nearly one out of every 500 shopping trips made in the U.S., InfoScout is able to gather and analyze more than 100 million purchase receipts across all retail verticals every year.

This year, the holiday shopping predictions include:

Super Saturday May Outshine Black Friday

Consumer procrastination is a driving force behind shopping trips being made later in the season, which could help Super Saturday (Dec. 17) surpass Black Friday. Last year, Super Saturday saw an increase of 12 percent in shopping trips than the prior year, while Black Friday trips remained flat.

“Black Friday has become an increasingly artificial phenomenon, driven as much by retailer promotion as by its date on the calendar,” Jared Schrieber, InfoScout’s cofounder and CEO, explained. “Super Saturday, by contrast, offers a more practical reason for primacy in shopping trips — it’s the last weekend to shop before the holiday.”

‘First Stop’ Status Is Crucial

InfoScout’s data revealed last year that, when consumers made Walmart their first stop while shopping on Black Friday, they spent nearly twice as much time there. Many other retailers can also receive this “first stop” benefit, which, on average, can mean an 18 percent basket size increase.

“Last year, 74 percent of Black Friday shoppers went to more than one store, and many of those went to a third and fourth,” said Schrieber. “On the other end of the spectrum, 38 percent of shoppers who went to Walmart first did not go to any other store on Black Friday. We expect the trend toward visiting fewer stores to accelerate, which makes attracting customers to your store first critically important.”

Mobile Payments Will Have The Holiday Blues

It seems as though mobile payments will have it tough this holiday season. According to the research, Apple Pay was only used in 2.7 percent of eligible transactions last year, which was already down from 4.9 percent in 2014. InfoScout predicts 2016 will be even more disappointing for Apple Pay, especially with even more mobile payment options available in the market.

“The challenge for mobile payment options is that shoppers don’t find them any easier or more convenient to use than credit or debit cards. Until that changes, adoption will fail to cross the chasm,” Schrieber said.

InfoScout’s other holiday predictions include that this year’s shopping season will be a zero-sum game for all retailers except Amazon, voice-powered consumer products will be a hot shopping item for consumers and the use of “click-and-collect” services will more than double.