Low Consumer Confidence in Supply Chains Prompts Early Holiday Shopping, Research Reveals

Bright Data recently released new research that reveals consumer sentiments around the 2021 holiday shopping season, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The research, carried out by Vanson Bourne, surveyed 4,000 consumers across the US and UK. It uncovered that shoppers in both regions have low confidence in retailers’ ability to deliver gifts in time for the holidays, with 51% of UK respondents and 66% of US respondents planning to shop ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to secure their chosen items in time.

The research found that getting the best deal is a top consideration for consumers. Its findings indicate that most US and UK holiday shoppers – 69% and 56%, respectively – will be heavily using price comparison sites to find the best deal this year. This represents a year-on-year increase of 9% in the US market.

The research also evaluated respondents’ attitudes towards participating in major retail discount days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Overall, a slim majority of respondents (56%) in both the US and UK plan to participate in these discount days. Of the different age groups surveyed, the percentage of 18-24-year-olds who said they would be participating (72%) was significantly higher compared to those aged 65 and over (36%).

When it comes to online shopping, 53% of respondents who currently only shop online said they will do more shopping online this holiday season. For those that currently only shop in person, 14% said they will do more online shopping this year. This shows a clear demand for online shopping following a strong 2020 in which the majority of consumers moved online for their holiday shopping. This included those aged 65 and over, with 39% completing the majority of purchases online, as opposed to only 15% in 2019.

“It’s no surprise that the majority of consumers prioritize securing the best price when holiday shopping,” said Or Lechner, CEO at Bright Data. “I expect that more organizations will wake up to the potential of using external or alternative data insights to maintain competitive offers and pricing in this ultra-competitive time, and those who won’t will remain behind. Before the internet age, retailers would send ‘mystery shoppers’ to review their competitors’ offerings and prices, but now this can all be managed online through up-to-the minute web data collection – which greatly benefits both businesses and consumers.”

Further key findings that impact consumers’ shopping trends:

• When asked what factors typically influence their purchase decisions when shopping online, 82% of respondents said price, 65% said product availability, and 59% said delivery timeframe.
• 74% of respondents said they would switch from their usual retailer if they found a better price elsewhere.
• Over one-third (35%) of respondents said they preferred to purchase from brands that have a better reputation.
• 16% of respondents have considered using a different online retailer due to poor website accessibility and design.

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