REPORT: Holiday Shopping Expected To Be Up, Store Traffic Will Still Struggle

Retailers need to embrace e-commerce shopping now, or they may just be left in the dust this holiday season, according to a new report that reveals the spending habits of consumers.

According to the annual report released by ad exchange firm OpenX and The Harris Poll, consumers are looking to spend more this year shopping online than they have in past years with 50 percent of shoppers already searching for holiday gifts and 37 percent already making holiday purchases.

“All indications are that the holiday season will be a healthy one for those retailers willing to embrace the important shifts we are seeing in when, where and how consumers are shopping,” Dallas Lawrence, chief brand officer at OpenX said.

“With the right people-based marketing strategy, that reaches the right shopper with the right campaign at the right time, the opportunity is greater than ever to find the right outcome whether it be in-store or online,” Lawrence added.

While holiday spending may be on the rise for 2019, the way that consumers will make these purchases will primarily occur online. The report indicates that digital spending is growing and the majority of the 2,000 consumers interviewed say they plan to spend more online than they do in-store.

Of the holiday purchases made online, one in five dollars is anticipated to be spent on a mobile device with millennials making the bulk of these purchases, the report said.

“This is also the year of the Millennial shopper,” Lawrence said. “Millennials are more optimistic about their economic future than any other age group and this optimism will lead them to spend more this year than any group tested.”

Just under 50 percent of consumers believe that the economy is doing better than a year ago, with more than 70 percent confident that the economy will improve next year, according to the report. This is reportedly expected to translate in a five percent increase in holiday shopping year-over-year with nearly one-third of consumers spending more on gifts than they did over the 2018 holiday season.