The 2024 Bazaarvoice Australian Holiday Shopping Season Behaviour Report revealed that 32 per cent of Australians begin their holiday shopping before the last quarter of the year.
The report surveyed shoppers in Australia, the UK, the US, France, Germany and Canada. Globally, a very similar number of shoppers gear up for the holiday season early. About 23 per cent start gift shopping by August or earlier, while 37 per cent will begin by September. Just 11 per cent begin their holiday shopping from April to July.
While 55 per cent of holiday shoppers will start by October, November is the most critical month for sales, accounting for 28 per cent. November is followed by December (21 per cent) and October (19 per cent).
How businesses can start preparing for the holiday period
Kate Musgrove, Managing Director of Bazaarvoice APAC, emphasised the importance of early planning and understanding consumer behaviour. However, marketers must balance their strategies to cater to early and late holiday shoppers alike. Despite the early starters, 68 per cent still conduct their holiday shopping between October and December, and 62 per cent feel that showcasing holiday items before October is premature.
“Now is the time to refine your approach to capture the early birds while maintaining a strong presence throughout the holiday season,” said Musgrove.
Marketing effectively to holiday shoppers
As for the most impactful marketing content format, consumers globally say video shines brightest when capturing their attention during the holiday season (37 per cent). Shoppers prefer to watch videos that are one to five minutes long (30 per cent), closely followed by videos that are a minute or less (26 per cent).
“Due to the holiday season not being a primary period for content creator recommendations to influence consumers, retailers need to work extra hard during this time to ensure any messaging shared on the brand’s behalf is authentic,” Musgrove said “Working with influencers that are genuine endorsers of the brand is one solution for swaying shopper trust.”
Additionally, Australians are more negatively impacted by AI-generated content, with 37 per cent expressing a somewhat negative impact on their purchasing decisions and 44 per cent feeling it lacks a genuine touch.
The report also noted that dynamic pricing strategies, such as flash sales, are less effective in Australia, with 35 per cent finding them non-influential, contrasted with 68 per cent of global respondents who find them impactful.
Where – and how much – will Aussies shop in 2024?
The report found that 51 per cent of holiday shoppers plan to maintain their 2023 spending levels in 2024, while 26 per cent intend to spend less.
Physical stores remain the most popular starting point for holiday shopping in Australia (28 per cent), followed by search engines (24 per cent) and brand/retailer websites (24 per cent).
Meanwhile, social media and influencer-driven shopping are significantly less influential, with only seven per cent and one per cent of Australians starting their shopping on these channels, respectively.
