More and more consumers are ditching shopping at brick-and-mortar stores and turning to online shopping during the holiday season. Based on a poll question CivicScience developed that collected 2,023 responses from November 19, 2014 to November 25, 2014, we found that of the consumers who plan to shop this holiday (throughout the whole holiday shopping season), 31% of people plan to do more than 50% of their shopping online while only 26% don’t plan to do any shopping online. Cyber Monday is a big online holiday shopping day and sales that day are expected to rise 15%, showing steady growth since last year.
To learn more about Cyber Monday shopping intent, the devices consumers plan to use for their purchases, and who plans to shop that day, CivicScience polled over 7,400 adult consumers from 11/19/2014 to 11/25/2014 on three different questions. Overall, across the three Cyber Monday related questions we asked, we found that about 29%-32% of adult consumers intend to shop that day.
Overall, consumers plan to shop more on their smartphones or tablets this Cyber Monday compared to last year. Of those that intend to shop on Cyber Monday (excluding those who won’t be shopping or answered “What’s Cyber Monday”), 12% of consumers plan to shop via their smartphone, 10% plan to use a tablet and 78% plan to use a computer. Last year, roughly 8% of consumers planned to use a smartphone, 8% intended to use a tablet and 84% planned to use a computer.
After grouping together those who plan to shop on their smartphone, tablet and computer, we were able to develop a profile of the Cyber Monday shopper and compare their demographic and psychographic attributes against the general population.
Demographics:
When compared to the general population, Cyber Monday shoppers are…
- 17% more likely to be women
- 29% less likely to be a grandparent
- 37% more likely to have a household income over $75K
- 51% more likely to be 18-44 years old
- 11% more likely to have a secondary degree and more specifically 17% more likely to have a graduate degree or PhD
- 20% more likely to live in the suburbs
- 21% more likely to be currently employed
Shopping Habits and Behaviors:
When compared to the general population, Cyber Monday shoppers are…
- 35% more likely to be brand loyal due to the brand’s quality
- 22% less likely to say price is more important than brand when shopping for clothing/accessories
- 18% more likely to say price and brand are equally important when shopping for electronics
- 45% more likely to do at least half of their shopping online
- 29% more likely to get their fashion inspiration from movies
- 50% more likely to say fashion trends impact what they wear
- 16% more likely to be influenced most by ads on TV rather than on the internet or social media comments, which is interesting given their younger age
Health and Wellness:
When compared to the general population, Cyber Monday shoppers are…
- Over 2X as likely to own new home gym or exercise equipment
- Slightly more likely to eat at fast food (14%) and fast casual restaurants (40%)
- 21% more likely to say they eat healthy
- 69% more likely to value lower prices when dining out
Social Media Usage:
When compared to the general population, Cyber Monday shoppers are…
- 16% more likely to use YouTube daily or weekly
- 24% less likely to use Facebook daily or weekly
- 31% more likely to use Twitter daily or weekly
- 19% more likely to use Pinterest daily or weekly
Technology Usage:
When compared to the general population, Cyber Monday shoppers are…
- 64% more likely to read technology blogs or websites daily
- 17% more likely to closely follow current events in electronics and technology
- Only 10% more likely to own a smartphone
- Only 9% more likely to own a tablet computer
- 40% more likely to read eBooks or digital books
- 34% more likely to own an eReader
Consumers are planning to spend the most money on electronics/media and clothing/accessories, both of which are up slightly from last year’s numbers. Of those planning to shop on Cyber Monday, roughly 40% will be spending the most on electronics or media and 36% will spend the most on clothing or accessories. Toys/games and housewares spending this year is the same as last year.
In September of this year, CivicScience produced reports on what matters most to consumers when shopping in stores and online. We found when shopping for clothing or shoes online, consumers value variety/selection followed by convenience. When shopping for personal electronics online, consumers value the ease of price comparisons and access to reviews. Between this information and how consumers plan to shop on Cyber Monday, i.e. what devices they plan to use to shop, retailers can develop a holiday game plan that allows them to better cater to consumers.
When consumers were asked about their likeliness to shop on Cyber Monday, a total of 32% of adult consumers are likely to shop that day. Of those planning to shop, 31% are “very likely” to shop on Cyber Monday and 69% are somewhat likely to shop, which is nearly identical to last year’s shopping likelihood.
Recap:
The Cyber Monday shopper is more likely to be a younger woman with a higher education and higher income. Although they are interested in electronics and technology, it seems the group is not overly tech savvy compared to the general population, based on some of their behaviors and device ownership. However, they are more likely to shop online. Compared to last year, more consumers will be shopping on their smartphones and tablets this year.
In another question we have running asking adult consumers about their view of holiday shopping, the majority of shoppers (56%) really don’t enjoy holiday shopping, making as few trips as possible or shifting to online shopping as much as possible. So it makes sense that a day devoted to online shopping is expected to see a 15% increase in sales.
