Dive Brief:
- Eight out of 10 (82%) U.S. Internet users will shop in stores during the holiday season, according to a poll from Penn Schoen & Berland Associates and the Rubicon Project.
- Three quarters (75%) of U.S. shoppers will also shop online, the poll says, with one quarter (25%) of the total planning to shop on their smartphones.
- In the advanced e-commerce market of the United Kingdom, more shoppers plan to use digital channels than purchase in-store, 77% to 76%.
Dive Insight:
Brick-and-mortar stores will still have an advantage over digital channels in the United States and Canada this year, according to the Holiday Consumer Pulse poll from the Rubicon Project and Penn Schoen & Berland Associates.
Convenience and low prices are the top drivers of online sales for shoppers in the U.S. and UK, while Canadian shoppers listed price first, then convenience. Another big reason to shop online was selection. Shoppers online are often “webrooming,” however, with most respondents saying they perform research online before visiting another channel to make their purchases.
That’s good news for retailers counting on physical stores to deliver a share of the eMarketer’s projected $885.7 billion in holiday sales, but if the UK’s numbers are any indicator of what’s to come, U.S. shoppers are likely shifting more of their shopping activity to the web.