Holiday shopping is no longer a beloved tradition featuring long afternoon excursions to shopping malls where the children can visit Santa after their parents purchase gifts from different stores. Today, most adults holiday shop in under six hours – spending less than $1,000 overall – with nearly half of all holiday consumers planning to use a mobile phone to purchase a portion of their gifts this year.

Despite reports of cooling inflation in Summer 2024, shoppers are more value-conscious this year than they were last year, having spent over two years managing the rising costs of products and services. During that time, many aggressively sought bargains and discounts, wisely leveraging online channels to uncover the best deals on the most desired products.

For the 2024 Holiday season, global shoppers will spend less money on gifts, less time shopping and start holiday shopping later this season. In fact, 62% will spend less than $1,000 this Holiday season – a big uptick from last year.

In 2023, only 49% spent less than $1,000 on holiday gifts according to last year’s survey, highlighting the lingering scars of inflation.

Furthermore, Celigo’s 2024 Holiday survey revealed that 85% describe themselves as either “very price conscious” or “fairly price conscious” when holiday shopping this year. And 61% cited product cost as the number one factor when holiday shopping online.

These increasingly price conscious consumers will seek deals and discounts on the most popular holiday gifts they plan to buy this season.

To get the best deals on holiday gifts, most consumers will flock to online retailers and marketplaces this year. In addition to lower product costs, these shoppers ranked other factors that were important to their online retail experience.

Today, holiday shoppers want a fast, easy, convenient, and inexpensive holiday shopping experience with most of it done online via mobile phones and other devices. Gone are the days of lingering in shopping malls for a leisurely day of perusing different stores for gifts. This year, global consumers will dedicate far less time to holiday shopping, as 52% will spend six hours or less buying gifts for loved ones.

They are also starting gift buying later this year with 53% beginning in October – a marked difference from 2023 when almost 50% of respondents began shopping in September.

In fact, 33% will do all of their gift buying in November and December, waiting for better online deals and discounts to arise later in the season.

As the holiday shopping cultural shift continues, 49% of consumers will do more online gift buying this season as opposed to shopping in physical stores, citing convenience, product availability, and speedy delivery as the top reasons they will rely more on online channels.

While this bodes well for online retailers, they still must compete against the proverbial “800-pound gorillas” – Amazon and other online marketplaces.

Online retailers should offer potent discounts and deals, personalized offers, and fast guaranteed free shipping during the critical October-to-early December timeframe to stay competitive as Amazon continues to reign supreme.

In fact, 73% of shoppers will choose Amazon, eBay, and other online marketplaces over independent retailers due to the lower prices, condensed shipping timelines, easy efficient ordering, and delivery processes that they offer.

This is a marked contrast to last year’s survey results which found that 53% of consumers preferred shopping at independent retailers due to their distinctive products and stocked inventory – a whopping 20% increase.

However, there is still an opportunity for independent online retailers to flourish this season, particularly if they can deliver what shoppers want most: competitive pricing, stellar product quality, dependable inventory, and free guaranteed shipping.

While consumers show a preference for online marketplaces, many are still drawn to smaller independent online retailers.

47% cite product quality, 44% emphasize competitive pricing, 39% highlight unique products and 37% favor good customer service as reasons to pick a smaller retailer over a large marketplace.

And, there are additional ways that smaller online retailers can woo holiday shoppers away from Amazon and other places. When asked what online retailers can do to become more attractive to them, 72% of holiday shoppers stated free shipping while 42% favored loyalty points and 39% chose personalized offers.

When looking to boost holiday sales, smaller retailers should also keep in mind that more digitally-savvy shoppers are eager to capitalize on modern online shopping trends this season.

36% plan to buy online and pick up gifts in stores, while 33% will request same-day delivery and 24% will use online store recommendations to find the perfect gifts for loved ones.

As Generation Z and younger consumers gain more purchasing power, more holiday shopping will be done via mobile phones. And, more consumers plan to buy holiday gifts on social media sites.

Social media channels have grown in popularity for holiday shopping as 47% of consumers will gift shop on Facebook Shops, while 46% will leverage TikTok and 45% will rely on Instagram.

Furthermore, busy digitally savvy consumers will rely on their cell phones and mobile devices this season, as 56% of U.S. shoppers will use their phones to buy gifts while 49% of all global shoppers will do the same.

Given this trend, online retailers should be aware that the rise in social shopping and reliance on mobile devices has made omnichannel strategies more important than ever before.

While most consumers prefer these digital shopping methods, the allure of gift buying in physical stores remains, as 28% of global shoppers report that they are unsure of where they will primarily spend their money this holiday season.

While consumers of all ages embrace the ease of online shopping during the holidays, each generation has distinct preferences in how they find and purchase gifts – key differences that retailers must be mindful of.

For example, younger generations are more likely to shop via their mobile devices this season with 67% of 18-to-24-year-olds and 65% of 25-to-35-year-olds leveraging their cell phones, compared to just 26% of those over 65 and 42% of those in the 55-64 age bracket.

In addition to their comparatively high preference for shopping via mobile device, younger holiday shoppers will also rely more on social media sites.

42% of 18-24 year olds and 31% of those aged 25-34 will shop on sites like TikTok, Facebook Shops and Instagram, as opposed to only 7% of those 55-64 and 4% of 65+ who plan to do so.

61% of Gen Z and Gen Y shoppers are also more likely to treat themselves to gifts while shopping this year, compared to just 14% of senior citizens who will do the same.

These younger shoppers are also more likely to return gifts than their older counterparts: 63% of those over 65 and 57% of shoppers aged 55-64 don’t return holiday gifts while 54% of shoppers under 34 regularly do so.

Retailers must employ different ways to reach and engage with these age groups according to their preferences. For example, personalized offers and discounts matter more to younger shoppers (52% aged 18-24 and 50% aged 25-34) than older ones (36% aged 55-64 and 33% aged 65+).

In-app store promotions and social media ads are more effective in reaching younger shoppers, while older gift buyers gravitate to email promotions, TV advertisements, and in-store ads.

Surprisingly, younger demographics prefer in-store shopping events far more than older ones. 64% of 18-24 year olds and 54% of 25-34 year olds will attend Black Friday this year, while only 34% of 55-64 year olds and 26% of those aged 65+ plan to do so.

Younger shoppers will also shop more online this year, with 71% of 18-24 year olds and 60% of 25-34 year olds relying more on digital channels, as opposed to 42% of both the 55-64 and 65+ age brackets.

Furthermore, younger shoppers are more comfortable using modern online conveniences such as BOPIS (buy online pick up in-store) and AI-driven curated gift guides and recommendations.

While consumers may be more digitally savvy than ever before, “old-school” television ads, in-store promotions, and physical shopping events still highly influence their gift buying decisions.

A surprisingly large number of consumers will participate in in-store holiday shopping events this year, as 48% of U.S. shoppers and 44% of U.K. shoppers plan to attend Black Friday events.

Cyber Monday will attract 40% of U.S. shoppers and 30% of those in the U.K. And, 20% of price conscious consumers will participate in post-Christmas clearance sales.

As online retailers plan their holiday advertising and promotional schedules, they should be aware of the mediums that most engage their coveted buying audiences.

29% of global consumers read promotional holiday emails from retailers, while 28% pay attention to seasonal TV commercials and 28% rely on in-store promotions.

Holiday shoppers are still frustrated with the gift returns process. While global consumers have greater access to unique products that appeal to everyone on their gift lists this holiday season, nearly half admitted they will return at least one gift this year.

When ranking the top challenges faced last year when trying to return gifts, 30% cited no free return shipping, 27% did not have gift receipts so sellers would not accept their returns, and 21% missed their return window.

Online retailers are advised to find new and better ways to make the gift return process as easy and seamless as possible or risk losing valuable shopper loyalty.

Today’s busy, price-conscious, digitally savvy consumers expect a fast, easy, and convenient holiday shopping experience where they can immediately and seamlessly receive the most desired gifts on their shopping lists.

They are also more price conscious than ever and keen on finding better deals and personalized offers to get their money’s worth.

With more consumers shopping closer to the holidays this year and increasingly shopping online, retailers must have order management systems that can handle the load of a compressed shopping period so that shoppers receive the right items on time.

Furthermore, retailers must ensure their systems are able to handle unprecedented order volume spikes without downtime or errors.

Retailers must connect their website, marketplaces, physical stores, social storefronts, etc. with their back-office systems so that, no matter where consumers shop, they have a consistent and connected shopping experience.

Ensure all product listings are up-to-date, accurate, and consistent across all channels. Gain real-time inventory visibility to make timely replenishment decisions and do not oversell items.

Offer customers flexible shipping options like BOPIS (buy online pick up in store), BORIS (buy online return in store), buy in store ship to home, etc.

With less money to go around this year, shoppers will spend money in places that make it easy to shop, ship, and return items.

Having a holistic view of the shopper’s demographics, choices and behavior will enable retailers to place the right offer, at the right time, in front of the right customer and drive more sales.

In addition, a 360º view will help speed up time-to-resolution for support tickets and drive better customer support experiences.

Retailers should look to leverage AI behind the scenes to drive better personalization. By connecting AI to systems holding customer, product and support data, retailers can provide shoppers with personalized product recommendations, help them find the right products faster, and deliver real-time assistance by answering product and order-related questions.

AI is ripe to revolutionize the shopping experience. As mentioned above, not only does it have the potential to improve the customer experience, but it also has the potential to become a sales channel, as younger generations actively leverage AI more often in their daily lives.

Early adopters have an opportunity to optimize for that experience, making it more likely that AI agents will bring their products into holiday shopping research and recommendations.

Invest in an ecommerce platform that has strong support for mobile. To reduce abandoned carts, retailers need to make sure their mobile site and carts provide the same seamless shopping experience as their desktop equivalent.

Optimize operations to reduce costs, and shift those savings into free shipping and returns – two keys to attracting consumers this holiday season.

Celigo, the leading AI-driven integration platform as a service (iPaaS), understands the evolving ecommerce space and believes that integration is a retailer’s secret weapon to staying on top in a highly competitive market.