Image: Flickr

Understanding The Holiday

Shopper

What you need to know about Holiday Shoppers

Stores look different

Shoppers behave differently

Shoppers often plan in advance for the special occasion

They are also more susceptible to in-store influences

They can be induced to buy in bulk

They don’t mind spending a little bit more

Keep in mind that holiday shoppers have a different mindset, different needs, different values and go to different stores!

Image : Flickr

The holiday shopper is quite unlike the shopper at any other time of

the year.

Image : Flickr

It’s a different world

• Everything looks different

• The most scrooge-minded shopper would struggle to behave as they

usually would.

• Any data collected on what shoppers do the rest of the year, therefore

needs to be analyzed cautiously

Image Flickr

More planning

• Holiday shoppers are much more likely to develop lists

• Festive occasions are important, and often ritualized, so efforts are made

to plan

• Shopping for the big day happens but once a year, shoppers aren’t in the

habit of doing it, so are less confident in their ability to ‘wing it’ in

the supermarket

Image: Flickr

More impulse

• They may add items over and above their plan, or that they are more than happy to substitute or change their

plans in the store.

• Switching varies dramatically on how important a particular element is to the

festive ritual and how well the alternative brand is

known.

More bulk buying

• I was looking at some data across a wide range of categories recently and noticed an interesting trend.

Almost all of them showed an increase in transaction size in the weeks preceding the main

festival.

• It wasn’t clear from the data whether this is caused by a general frivolity towards money

• Depending on your category, this might be an excellent time of year to encourage shoppers to

stock up a little.

Image : Flickr

Image : Flickr

More expensive

• Remember this is not the same shopper as the rest of the year, and the consumption occasion

she is buying for isn’t the same.

• Trial during December does not guarantee a repeat purchase in January when the (same) shopper is in a different looking store, in a different

mindset, and buying for a very different consumption

occasion.

Image : Flickr

The holiday shopper is a different shopper

If we remember that the holiday shopper is different: • different mindset, • different needs, • different values • different store

and we choose carefully how we use this information to market to these shoppers effectively, there

is no reason why the festive season can’t be extremely merry

for your brand!