Retail landlords are worried that inflation may negatively affect in-store traffic this holiday season. However, JLL recently released its Retail Holiday Survey 2022 report, culled by surveying 1,080 U.S. consumers online last September, and their findings show that the upcoming seasonal shopping forecast isn’t completely dismal.
The best news is that the respondents revealed that they will indeed do in-store shopping, with 63% admitting that they will purchase at least a portion of their merchandise in physical stores this year. Last year that number was only at 58%.
When asked why they would prefer to do their shopping in person, more than half of the respondents (54.5%) stated that it is because they want to see and touch the products before buying them. Holiday ambiance — such as Christmas décor and scents — was the second highest reason the respondents preferred to do in-store shopping, with 36.9% citing the holiday-themed bells and whistles as a benefit to physically shopping in person. About a third of the respondents said they simply want to avoid paying high shipping costs.
All of this data may be a cue to landlords to not only go overboard with the holiday decorations and scenery, but to also promote those tenants that encourage tactile/sensory experiences, such as Apple stores, Lush, Buff City Soap, CAMP, The Lego Store and Squishable.
A whopping 70% of the respondents said they will also buy something for themselves while doing their holiday shopping, with apparel/shoes trending high at 47.1%. More than half of the people polled, 52.8%, will look for more sales than usual. In order to save money, 30% of the respondents said they will buy less expensive gifts, and 23.1% said they will simply shop for fewer people. Shopping for special sales deals will definitely be de rigueur this holiday season.
The customer’s total annual earning will have a huge effect on holiday shopping. About 50% of the respondents that earn less than $50K plan to dramatically reduce their holiday spending budget, versus only about 24% of the respondents that earn $150K+ who will reduce their spending.
Another factor in the poll indicated that the sex of the shopper also has an impact on spending habits this holiday season.
As for men, 37% claimed they will not change their usual shopping habits over the winter season, and twice as many men as women look favorably on receiving expert sales advice while shopping. For women, 22% admitted they definitely will change their usual shopping habits for the holidays, and they are more prone to seek out sales or purchase cheaper gift alternatives than usual.
Although Amazon was cited as the No. 1 choice when respondents were asked for their Top 10 preferred holiday store brands, Walmart came in second at 47.95% and Target was third at 38.8%. This indicates that the majority of shoppers prefer ease, convenience and savings this holiday season, and will therefore opt for the “one size fits all needs” discount superstore concept.
Click on here to view the full report.
