As summer winds down, LTK, a global influencer marketing platform, released a new study of consumers in the United States, its Holiday Shopping Predictions Report, which determined that consumers are shifting their holiday shopping plans under the influence of inflation to save dollars and to invest in self-care and their homes.
When it comes to choices, 96% of consumers plan to shop online, according to the survey, with 53% saying they plan to do the majority of their purchasing digitally. In addition, LTK noted, 86% of consumers plan to shop from their phones. Indeed, almost half of Millennials plan to do the majority of their shopping on their phones.
In the ongoing shift in shopping behavior, 72% of consumers said their shopping originates from social media, a figure that’s higher for Millennials, at 81%, and Gen Zers, at 83%. Further, 45% of Millennials and 42% of Gen Zers said they shop in-store based on recommendations from online content creators and influencers.
More than half of shoppers intend to spend the same or more on holiday 2022 versus the year-earlier period, according to the study, intending on gift purchases of clothing and accessories, at 26%, candy/food/gift baskets, at 24%, toys, at 23%, and electronics, at 21%. However, as noted, shoppers are putting some emphasis on self-care and their homes after a stressful year, with 61% anticipating spending more or the same on shopping for themselves and their households for holiday 2022. In buying for themselves, consumers ranked beauty/personal care items first, at 32%, followed by electronics, candy/food and beer, wine and spirits. In terms of readying their homes for the holidays, the top planned purchase categories for consumers are candles, decor and electronics.
