ThinkNow Retail™ Asian Holiday Shopping Trends 2016 [Snapshot]

Written by Mario Xavier Carrasco

Published November 2016

Asian Holiday Shopping Trends 2016[Snapshot]

ThinkNowResearch.com

With almost 40% of the U.S. population comprised of Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American consumers, we were curious to learn how each group’s holiday shopping habits are similar and different to each other and we’ve done so in our in-depth research series: ThinkNow Retail™ – Total Market Holiday Shopping Trends.

This month we will be focusing on the fastest growing minority segment in the U.S.; Asians. Asian-Americans represent $825 billion in consumer buying power—which is expected to rise to $1.1 trillion by 2020. As part of ThinkNow Research’s ongoing efforts to provide insights that help marketers better serve Asian-American consumers, this report highlights the Holiday Shopping Habits and behaviors of Asian-Americans, a relatively untapped topic from a research standpoint. Asian-Americans display unique Holiday Shopping Habits that allow points of entry for marketers to connect with them this Holiday season.

The National Retail Federation expects sales

in November and December (excluding autos,

gas and restaurants) to jump 3.6 percent from

last year to $655 billion. The NRF’s Holiday

Forecast 2016 has non-store sales — 90

percent of which is e-commerce — growing by

seven to 10 percent to as much as $117 billion.


The 2016 Holiday Shopping season looks like it is a going to be a bright spot for U.S. retailers across the board with a significant lift among Asian-American consumers. Almost 40% of Asian-American consumers will be spending more this year than last.

The key takeaway from this report is the vital importance of online for Holiday shopping among Asian-American consumers. Not only are they purchasing their gifts online, they are researching their gift list online, and are more likely to move on to the next item if the gift they are looking for is not available for purchase online.

To help brands and companies better understand these super Holiday consumers and how they compare to the rest of the U.S., ThinkNow Research conducted an online survey of 253 Asian, 245 non-Hispanic white, 249 African-American, and 502 U.S. Hispanic consumers. The study explored holiday shopping habits in depth and this report highlights the top 5 key insights we uncovered among the Asian-American cohort.


Asian-Americans are relying heavily on the internet not only to purchase their Holiday gifts but to research their holiday gifts as well. When asked where they get most of the ideas for gifts that they are planning to buy, 35% of Asian-Americans stated that they search online for gift ideas. This is statistically significantly higher than both Whites at 23% and African-Americans at 26%. Hispanics are the second most likely group to look for gift ideas online at 28%.

Not only are Asian-Americans researching their Holiday gift ideas online, they are also purchasing them online. When thinking about all the holiday gifts that they will buy this year, the percentage of gifts they plan to buy online is 43%! This is statistically significantly more than Hispanics at 34% and African-Americans at 33%. Whites have the second highest percentage of purchasing Holiday gifts online at 38%.

Asian-Americans

Are Online Shoppers

WHO LOOKS FOR GIFT IDEAS ONLINE?

Insight 1

35%

28%

26%

23%


The takeaway for marketers is clear; if you are not tailoring your Holiday messaging online in a meaningful way you are not going to win the Asian-American dollar. 2016 will be a record year for online Holiday shopping across the board and our data shows that Asian-Americans will be leading the pack. Asian consumers have proven themselves to be among the most financially savvy. They will not overpay for a product nor are they prone to impulse purchases. They are, however, interested in luxury brands and will pay for value. Providing them with the information they need to research and make those purchases online is key. With such a such percentage of Asian-Americans researching and purchasing their Holiday gifts online, they represent a glimpse into the future of the Holiday shopping season.

Marketing Implications:


When we think about capturing a marketing dollar we immediately think advertising. Whether it be online, traditional, or print. Rarely do retailers think about one of the most critical components of online shopping, reviews.

The importance of online reviews is made even more apparent when looking at Asian-American holiday shoppers. We’ve already established that they rely heavily on the internet for gift ideas and actual purchase of gifts but what are the main reasons Asian-American purchase holiday gifts online? Reviews.

Over half (51%) of Asian-Americans purchase their gifts online because they can read reviews. This is statistically significantly higher than Whites and African-Americans at 36%. Hispanics aren’t too far behind on relying on reviews at 42%.

Online Reviews

Are Critical

Insight 2

WHO RELIES ON REVIEWS FOR HOLIDAY PURCHASES?

51%42%

36%


If you have an e-commerce site, get a review management system. If you have a review management system, make sure people post reviews! Not only are reviews important to Asian-American shoppers, user reviews are proven sales drivers in an e-commerce world. Older Millennial Asian consumers are more likely to read but not write online reviews. Younger GenZ Asian consumers, however, have lost that reticence and are posting at equal or higher rates than other groups. Ultimately, user views increase conversions. They can eliminate any doubts potential customer may have about a product or can help product selection.



When marketers think of who consumers are purchasing Holiday gifts for, the prevailing assumption is usually friends and family. Almost 20% of Asian-Americans are putting that assumption to the test. When asked “Which of the following groups are on your holiday gift list this year?”, 19% of Asian Americans selected their co-workers:

This is more than double of African-Americans at 8% and significantly more than Whites at 13%. Hispanics are at a close second with 16% noting co-workers on their Holiday shopping list.

Asian-Americans

Think Outside The

“Friends/Family” Box

Insight 3

WHO BUYS HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR CO-WORKERS?


Asian culture is more likely to include work relationships into social networks. As such, those relationships are more likely to be acknowledged around the Holiday season. This is a significant cultural finding and has broad implication for marketers looking to target Asian-American consumers this Holiday season. While friends and family Holiday marketing tropes are a safe bet for all audiences, highlighting the importance of co-worker relationships for Asian-Americans is a way to not only resonate with this group but also stand out from the crowd. With the potential to reach almost 20% of Asian-Americans during the holiday season with this message, it may seem like stepping out on a limb but the numbers back a safe investment.



Black Friday has almost become its own Holiday for many Americans and Asian-Americans are no different. In fact, Asian-Americans are the most likely consumer group to go shopping on Black Friday this year. When asked how likely they are going to go shopping on Black Friday this year, 67% of Asian-Americans stated that they were very or somewhat likely to go.

This is significantly higher than Whites at 55% and African-Americans at 61%. Hispanics come in at a close second with 64% stating that they are very or somewhat likely to shop on Black Friday.

Black Friday Is Big

For Asian-Americans

Insight 4

WHO IS LIKELY TO GO SHOPPING ON BLACK FRIDAY?

67%64%61%55%


Additionally, when asked if they are more or less likely to start Black Friday shopping if the sales started on Thanksgiving, 63% stated that they would be more likely to start their shopping if it started on Thanksgiving. This is significantly higher than all other groups with Whites at 42%, African-Americans at 52% and Hispanics at 53%.

Black Fridays are typically dominated by the large retailers and are specifically pronounced with electronic brick and mortars. However, there is an opportunity for smaller players and even e-commerce enabled retailers to join in on this “holiday”. If you’re looking to capture some of the Asian-American spend, a Black Friday type offer would be a smart move as almost 70% of Asian-Americans will be shopping on Black Friday this year. Moving your Black Friday efforts to Thanksgiving will add an extra boost as Asian-Americans are more likely to shop Black Friday if it is offered earlier.



The importance of online shopping for Asian-Americans has been a recurring theme in this report and this insight drives the point even further. When asked, what are you most likely to do if you can’t find a gift online, 10% of Asian-American consumers stated that they will not purchase that item:

Let that sink in. This is in stark contrast to all the other groups with only 3% of Whites stating that they would not purchase that item, 4% of African-Americans, and 5% of Hispanics. Asian-Americans will move on to the next gift idea if your product or service is not offered online.

Online Offering

Is Critical For

Asian-Americans

Insight 5

WHO WOULD NOT PURCHASE AN ITEM IF NOT OFFERED ONLINE?

10%5% 4% 3%


The barrier to entry online shopping for retailers is a thing of the past. There are so many cloud offerings to get your products and services online that there is almost no excuse for not having an e-commerce component to your website. This is especially true if you’re looking to woo Asian-American consumers because they’re the most likely to prefer shopping online and 10% of them will move on to the next company if you’re not offering your product or service online.



Methodology

Method

Sample Size

Screening Criteria

Quotas/Weighting

Test Area

Fieldwork Timing

Online survey via ThinkNow Research’s Omnibus Study

Total:

Hispanics:

White:

African-American:

Asian:

n = 1249

n = 502

n = 245

n = 249

n = 253

Nationwide

September, 2016

• Asian-Americans: self-identify as Asian origin

• Non-Asians: self-identify as White, African-American or Hispanic

• 18-64 years of age

• Age bracket

• Gender balance

• Region

• Primary language spoken at home (Hispanics only)

• Some light weighting applied to balance samples to U.S. Census data with respect

to age, gender and region.

This report only scratches the surface of all the data we gathered. If you are looking for a specific data point, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to fulfill your request.

Mario Xavier CarrascoManaging Partner, ThinkNow Research


ThinkNow Research is an award-winning culturally-integrated market research agency. We integrate Hispanic, African-American, and Asian insights into custom market research for companies and government agencies looking to thrive in a changing demographic environment.

ThinkNow Research also owns and operates one of the largest and most representative Hispanic online panels in the industry, DigaYGane.com, which is used to service our own research as well as provide sample to the leading market research companies in the world.

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