Is August too early to be talking about Christmas? A quarter of Brits don’t think so. 25% of shoppers turn their attention to planning Christmas shopping by the end of the Summer, with August seeing the volume of Christmas related Google searches double month on month. The early opportunity in this time varies by industry and audience but if consumers are thinking about Christmas, so should brands and retailers.
eBay reported that sporting goods, as well as toys and games, are the two categories of gifts that start seeing the earliest research, with electronics and clothing shopping peaking later potentially due to the timing of the mega-sales period around Black Friday. With 13% of adults (7 million people) planning to splash out more than normal this Christmas, there is an increased revenue opportunity from gifting than previous years. This makes it beneficial for brands to speak to the audience that gift their products when they begin their research.
With newly formed shopping habits emerging over the last 18 months, marketing teams will not only want to think about who is shopping for their products as gifts, but where they will be shopping. the7stars quarterly tracking study found that Brits plan to shop online more than previously for media products (books, music, games etc.), clothes and electronics, whilst grocery and beauty are more likely to be shopped in store. The increased intent to shop online is being driven in most categories by those aged 35 and over, mirroring where the growth in online shopping came from during the pandemic.
Regardless of whether you’re a Christmas fanatic or a more of a scrooge, the marked increase in intent and research that is being seen this Summer means it’s certainly not too early for brands to be implementing plans to gain the attention of shoppers this coming holiday season.
– Ben Lovett
Sources
https://www.ebayads.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/eBay_ads_christmas_report_2021_F.pdf
Kantar
Googe Trends
https://business.pinterest.com/en/content/holiday/
The7stars QT August
