NRF: A Record 56 Percent Of Holiday Shoppers Will Shop Online This Year

More evidence that the upcoming holidays could be a good one for online retailers: The National Retail Federation (NRF) says a record 56 percent of consumers plan to shop online this year. That’s according to the NRF’s Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, a survey of more than 7,500 consumers during the first week of October. That […]

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This article is part of Marketing Land's Holiday Retailer series.

This article is part of Marketing Land’s Holiday Retailer series.

More evidence that the upcoming holidays could be a good one for online retailers: The National Retail Federation (NRF) says a record 56 percent of consumers plan to shop online this year.

That’s according to the NRF’s Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, a survey of more than 7,500 consumers during the first week of October.

That 56 percent figure is up from 51.5 percent last year, and also represents a record high for the 13 years that the NRF has been doing this survey. Another record: The NRF says the average shopper will do 44.4 percent of his/her shopping online this holiday season.

Mobile Commerce Expected To Grow

As you’d expect, mobile shopping will be a big part of that overall online growth. Consider these statistics:

  • 55.7 percent of smartphone owners will use their device in some way for holiday shopping, up from 53.8 percent last year
  • 35.8 percent of smartphone owners will use it to research products and prices, an all-time high
  • 19.1 percent of smartphone owners will buy a holiday gift via their device, another record
  • 47.4 percent of tablet owners will use it to research holiday items, and 33 percent will buy something via their tablet

According to the survey, 25 percent of respondents say an easy-to-use mobile website is an important factor in choosing where to shop.

The NRF counts November and December as its holiday shopping season, and respondents include consumers who’ll be shopping for Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa.

Shop.org, a division of the NRF, has already estimated that ecommerce sales will rise 8-11 percent this year.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Matt McGee
Contributor
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

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