More than half of holiday shoppers plan to buy gifts for themselves

Dive Brief:

A JLL 2019 Retail Holiday Survey found 53.2% of shoppers plan to buy gifts for themselves and 73.5% of consumers with a budget of more than $500 expect to buy gifts for themselves. Clothing and shoes top the list for self gifts, with 20.4% of shoppers planning to make purchases for themselves in this category, followed by electronics (11.5%) and home furnishings (8.3%), per the report sent to Retail Dive.
Whether shoppers want to save time or money depends on their budget. Ultimately, 34.3% of all respondents said they want to save money during their holiday shopping. However, 37.2% of shoppers with a budget of less than $500 were more concerned about saving money, compared to 24.7% of shoppers who plan to spend more than $500. Meanwhile, 19.1% of shoppers spending $500 or more ranked saving time as being more important than saving money, compared to 6.8% of consumers who will spend less than $500.
As for where shoppers will spend, the report indicated that 38.1% of shoppers plan to buy their gifts on Amazon, followed by 36.2 who said the same for Walmart and 29.6% who will shop at Target.

Dive Insight:

Given that more than a third of consumers are looking to save money during the holidays, it's not surprising that Amazon is the top retailer for holiday shopping. Besides JLL's report, research from Episerver found that nearly half of consumers plan to shop at Amazon during the holidays. So far, the e-commerce giant has beaten its competitors by offering consumers items at 20% less than other online retailers, including Walmart and Target.

Retailers are already trying to take more of the market. While Macy's last week announced new in-store holiday experiences and services for shoppers this year, the JLL report indicated that only 8% of shoppers plan to shop at the department store. And though Target fell behind Amazon and Walmart for where consumers most want to shop, the mass merchant has stepped up its fulfillment efforts to meet holiday demand.

There is hope for brick-and-mortar retailers this holiday season. Per the JLL report, nearly 52% of shoppers said they plan to shop in-store this holiday season and 23.5% of shoppers plan to use buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) services. Plus, 25.3% of JLL respondents expect to buy gifts from a retailer's website. Those findings fall in line with research from the International Council of Shopping Centers indicating that 97% of shoppers anticipate buying items online from retailers with physical stores.