The holidays are all about spending time with friends old and new, and it looks like retailers will be meeting a few fresh faces this season. According to recent holiday shopping data from Placeable, a local marketing automation platform provider, 58% of consumers plan to shop at national retailers they don’t normally visit to buy gifts for family and friends. Affluent shoppers are even more likely to do so, with 64% of consumers earning $100,000 or more open to shopping at chain stores they don’t normally frequent. So, it’s important for retailers to create a seamless shopping experience from beginning to end to turn these new acquaintances into loyal customers, Placeable notes in its report about the survey findings.
Creating a merry and bright shopping experience starts before consumers hit the store. According to the data, 60% of shoppers consult a brand’s website before visiting one of its brick-and-mortar locations to purchase. And consumers expect retailers to know their needs and desires—just as good as old St. Nick would. That’s why 89% of consumers expect retailers to have location-specific content and 86% plan on brands displaying the most up-to-date information.
And because most one-horse open sleighs don’t come with GPS, 40% of shoppers will use their smartphones to navigate their way to a store. Just 15% of shoppers will call a store for directions.
As Santa knows, finding the perfect gift can be a full-time job. Consumers are willing to go the extra mile to find the right present, even if that means shopping during their vacations. Consider the following: 56% of consumers shop for the holidays while away from home. Still, consumers aren’t afraid to put brands on the naughty list if they misbehave, such as by publishing inaccurate information on a website. And 13% of consumers will give up on a gift search altogether due to invalid location information. But marketers mustn’t think that they’ve put a customer in a grinchy disposition every time one leaves empty-handed. According to the data, 21% of shoppers who abandon a physical search end up ordering the gift from the retailer’s website down the line.
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