Holiday Shopping In Year Two Of The COVID-19 Pandemic – Report
Holiday shopping took on a new look in 2020 as 90% of consumers in America shopped more online due to COVID-19 according to the data we gathered in our report on 2020 holiday shopping season. With 52.5% of Americans being vaccinated and restrictions lifting in most places across the United States, will consumers flock back to stores or will ecommerce continue its dominance during holiday shopping season in 2021?
To find out how shopping behavior has shifted in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed 1060 American consumers and asked them where, when and how they are planning to shop in Q4 of 2021. The data below will highlight impeding ramifications on the 2021 holiday shopping season in the United States and what retailers, organizations and consumers should expect.
The first section of this report includes key findings and data trends that will have the most impact on holiday shopping in 2021. You can also explore a detailed breakdown of consumer data for In-store, Online and Buy Now Pay Later sections by clicking on one of the buttons below.
KEY FINDINGS
80.8% of consumers will continue to shop more online due to COVID-19 during holiday season in 2021.
Americans, on average, plan to spend a total of $974 during holiday shopping season in 2021. This represents a 4.7% increase compared to 2020.
COVID-19 remains a significant concern for American consumers as 45.3% have stated that it’s one of their biggest worries about shopping during holiday season 2021. Other concerns among consumers in United States are prices (51%), in stock availability of items (45.3%), shipping times (40.6%) and availability of personal funds (31.3%)
35.9% of consumers plan to buy online and pick up in-store/curbside during 2021 holiday shopping season.
40.2% of consumers plan to shop and support local brick and mortar stores during Small Business Saturday.
13.7% of consumers plan to use Buy Now Pay Later to finance their purchases during 2021 holiday shopping season.
39.2% of consumers expect to do the majority of their holiday shopping in 2021 throughout December. Other popular options include: Prior To Thanksgiving (27.5%), Black Friday (17.5%) and Cyber Monday (10.8%).
Online
94.2% of consumers plan to shop online during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
In-store
54.7% of consumers plan to shop in-store during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
On average, consumers plan to spend $670 online during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
79.4% of consumers who plan to shop online expect to spend most of their 2021 holiday shopping budgets at Amazon. Walmart.com is a distant second at 6.2%.
54.6% of consumers who plan to shop online will use their mobile device to make purchases.
On average, consumers plan to spend $304 in-store during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
33.9% of consumers who plan to shop in-store expect to spend most of their 2021 holiday shopping budgets at Target. Walmart is a close second at 30.4%.
66.1% of consumers who plan to shop in-store expect to use credit cards as their preferred payment method.
IN-STORE
Target & Walmart remain the most popular retailers among American consumers for the holiday season in 2021 at 33.9% and 30.4% respectively. Other popular mentions were Costco (8.9%) and Kroger (7.1%).
2021
54.7% of consumers plan to shop in-store during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
On average, consumers plan to spend $304 in-store during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
2020
60.2% of consumers shopped in-store during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
On average, consumers spent $276 in-store during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
Consumers expect to spend 10.1% more, on average, in-store during the 2021 holiday shopping season compared to 2020.
66.1% of consumers plan to use their credit cards to pay for products in-store during holiday shopping season 2021.
49.3% of consumers plan to use their debit cards to pay for products in-store during holiday shopping season 2021.
29% of consumers plan to use cash to pay for products in-store during holiday shopping season 2021. *Phone apps are 7.1%.
ONLINE
Mobile (54.6%) and Laptop (73.2%) are expected to be the most popular devices among American consumers to do their online shopping during holiday season in 2021. Desktop is third at 32% and tablet is fourth at 11.3%.
2021
94.2% of consumers plan to shop online during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
On average, consumers plan to spend $670 online during the 2021 holiday shopping season.
2020
97.1% of consumers shopped online during the 2019 holiday shopping season.
On average, consumers spent $654 online during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
Consumers expect to spend 2.4% more, on average, online during the 2021 holiday shopping season compared to 2020.
66% of consumers plan to use their credit cards to pay for products online during holiday shopping season 2021.
45.4% of consumers plan to use their debit cards to pay for products online during holiday shopping season 2021.
24.7% of consumers plan to use PayPal to pay for products in-store during holiday shopping season 2021.
BUY NOW PAY LATER
46.2% of consumers regretted making purchases with buy now pay later during 2020 holiday shopping season.
64.3% of consumers that expect to making purchases using buy now pay later option during holiday shopping season in 2021 plan to use Affirm. Other popular options are Klarna (35.7%), Afterpay (33.2%) and PayPal Pay in 4 (21.4%).
2021
13.7% of consumers plan to use buy now pay later to finance their purchases during holiday shopping season in 2021.
On average, consumers plan to spend $279 on purchases using buy now pay later during holiday shopping season in 2021.
2020
12.8% of consumers used buy now pay later to finance their purchases during holiday shopping season in 2020.
On average, consumers spent $260 on purchases using buy now pay later during holiday shopping season in 2020.
7% more consumers expect to use buy now pay later to finance their purchases during holiday shopping season in 2021.
Consumers expect to spend 7.3% more, on average, with buy now pay later during the 2021 holiday shopping season compared to 2020.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY & DEMOGRAPHICS
For the purpose of this study, we surveyed 1060 US consumers to find out how they are planning to shop during this year’s holiday shopping season. The survey was conducted through SurveyMonkey services.
The demographic composition of the 1060 individuals surveyed is as follows.