One month ahead, are people ready for Christmas yet?
Black Friday marks the last mile of 2021 – and the "official" start of the Christmas season. (Sh)elves have been dressed in holiday costumes for weeks, and gift-givers have been hard at work preparing for end of year celebrations. Now, just one month ahead of Christmas, we wanted to find out what’s topping 2021 wish lists and how shoppers are progressing.
Survey and social insights from the United States, Europe and Australia showed while many have a renewed sense of excitement for Christmas, it doesn’t come without stress about shortages and delays. Shoppers have already hit the stores - and online sites - to check items off their 2021 shopping lists.
Nearly 40% of adults have finished or are almost done with their Christmas shopping
On average, 39% have already finished or are almost done with their holiday shopping - though some countries are further along than others: the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany are more advanced in their shopping, and also ;more stressed by shortages, delays, and certainly affected by the fear of Covid-19 restrictions after recent moves in Europe.
Latin European adults are less prepared yet, in particular a majority of Italian has not started yet, less stressed by availability and delivery challenges.
Retailers, brands and influencers have been especially active in encouraging early shopping this year. Synthesio’s semantic AI capabilities detected an increase in mentions of “too early” in Christmas and holiday-shopping social conversations. Further analysis revealed consumers are asking, “is it too early?” to start decorating and shopping, while influencers, brands, and retailers make it’s “never too early!” an on-line nudge to shoppers.
But despite this year’s early shopping trend, many still expect a “last-minute Christmas shopping” scramble; on average, 2 out of 10 anticipate doing more last-minute shopping this year than in 2020.
The peak moment for gifts sharing remains 24th and 25th December so still time to catch-up – on average only 16% will need to be ready before 24th especially in the UK (25%), and 67% overall will share and receive their gifts on 24th/25th.
Holiday shopping brings more excitement – and more stress – than 2020
Online conversations about Christmas shopping on social sites, forums, and blogs have nearly doubled this year with 45% more mentions recorded over the same 4-week period (Oct 24 – Nov 24). This increase in holiday buzz is undoubtedly related to the post-pandemic excitement about returning to “normal” celebrations with friends and family - but also to the increased stress felt by consumers about delivery delays and availability issues, possibly anchored by media alerts.
Analysis of online conversations about Christmas and holiday shopping reveals a range of consumer emotions; while most are feeling joyful, anger and sadness were both widely expressed by shoppers – often related to the stress of shopping and frustration of delays.
This emotional ambivalence observed in social conversations is confirmed in the surveyed national populations: on average 27% feel more excitement related to the end of year celebrations compared to last year, while a similar proportion expresses an increased stress for supply shortages and delivery delays (respectively 30% and 28% on average).
Shoppers in the United States, Australia and Germany report higher levels of stress about delivery delays and supply shortages which likely triggered early shopping in those countries. Italian shoppers show much less stressed. In France, shoppers are not feeling the same increased energy about celebrating with only 18% claiming more excitement versus last year but appear more stressed about supply shortages.
Interestingly, the youngsters are the population expressing more excitement about this year’s celebrations and anticipating allocating more time and budget for holiday gifts than last year.
2021 holiday is the season to be gifting gift cards
This year, we asked adults in the UK and Australia a simple question: what are the top 3 items on your wish list? Without a list of options, respondents shared what they’re hoping to receive this Christmas in their own words.
As for material items, respondents wish the usual suspects. Indeed, clothes and apparel (12% mentions), perfumes (9% mentions), books (6%) and chocolates (4%) top the wish lists in nearly all markets, with subtle differences by country, just after money and gift cards dominating global wish list gathering 19% spontaneous mentions. This is signaling a significant opportunity for brands and retailers offering gift cards.
Online conversations worldwide reveal that Amazon #1 and retailers in general dominates gift card-related conversations, with certain brands popping up globally like Apple, Starbucks or Nike.
Across retail categories, electronic and tech gifts cards are most mentioned by consumers in online conversations – followed by food and beverages, and apparel and shoes.
This gift card trend is certainly facilitating the early shopping 2021 we are observing.
Electronics erupts in Christmas Shopping List, between excitement for the gifts and stress about shopping
Online conversations about Christmas and holiday shopping reveal electronics and tech as the most-discussed wish list and shopping list items. Mentions on wishes show the excitement behind electronics and gaming expected gifts, while shopper conversations are filled with mentions of stress and anxiety; shoppers are worried about their electronics arriving on time – or being able to purchase them at all. Parents look especially on the edge trying to match kids and teens expectations.
The correlation between retail category and purchasing factors like discounts, availability further confirms that “availability” is the top concern expressed in social conversations by electronics shoppers. In fact, it is the strongest correlation among all categories – followed by similar concern in the apparel and shoes category. In 2020, discount pricing was the primary purchasing factor correlated with electronics and tech.
Emotion analysis reveals that “fear” is more associated with electronics and tech than any other retail category.
Online & offline shopping co-exist across retail categories
As convergent commerce takes hold, the lines between online and offline shopping continue to blur. While many are returning to stores for the first time this holiday season, online shopping is still a popular option among shoppers. When surveyed, around 20% of shoppers expect to do more in-store shopping this year.
We hope you’ve found this information useful as you head into the final month of 2021. We are around if you would like to know more and share your needs to prepare your 2022 plans. We are preparing an insightful syndication reflect on 2021 cross-traditions celebrations to be well prepared for 2022.
Want more consumer insights to help you prepare for 2022 and stay ahead of changing shopper behaviors? Visit Synthesio.com or schedule a demo with one of our experts to see how you can turn online conversations into meaningful, actionable insights. And, click Ipsos.Digital to see how Ipsos' Omnibus’s research-supported survey builder can deliver fast, cost-effective answers you can trust.
