Did you spend more than the average consumer this holiday season?
by Bijal Shah and Steven Parisi
In the last few days, Ibotta surveyed over 100,000 users to understand how they spent their precious dollars this holiday season. We asked them the ‘where’, ‘when’, and ‘how much’ to try and glean some insights into the 2014 holiday shopping season.
On the spending front, shoppers spent the same or less this holiday season as compared to last. Despite a significant decline in oil prices over the past few months, which freed up more disposable income, consumers are still leaning towards conservative consumption. Why? Maybe they are finding better deals this season, or maybe they are weary of what lies next for the American economy.
In addition, brick & mortar still seems to be the favorite amongst consumers, regardless of how early they start their holiday shopping. That said, it is no surprise to see that Millennials topped the charts as the generation most likely to do their shopping online. 44% of respondents who fell into the tech savvy, convenience oriented generation prefer the peace, quiet, and order digital shopping provides.
As for when consumers did their holiday shopping, most waited until after the Black Friday rush, shopping in the early to mid parts of December. However, 1 in 5 waited until the last minute, which explains why shopping malls around America were packed this past weekend. Why did shoppers wait? It could be that shoppers waited in hopes that retailers would further slash prices as they feel pressure to hit holiday sales numbers. It could also be the case that a portion of these shopper just plain procrastinated. Whatever the reason, if you fell into the last minute shopping category, you were not alone.
Overall, December should prove to be a big month for retailers, despite consumers’ stated desires to spend less.
Source: Ibotta + Ibottalytics
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Questions? Email ibottalytics@ibotta.com
