In Invoice Home’s latest U.S. consumer survey, conducted with research from Censuswide, many U.S. consumers said they are taking a different approach to try to save this holiday shopping season. While the last several years have created a shift, increasing early spending consumers believe that the post-Christmas sales will hold the largest discounts from retailers as they try to make up for inflation.
Unsurprisingly, 64 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed said that inflation and cost of living will likely impact spending and budgets again this holiday season, followed by credit card interest rates or the unavailability of credit (40 percent) and the outcome of the U.S. presidential election (37 percent). For one in 10 consumers, the strategy to save this season will be to postpone holiday celebrations until 2025, taking advantage of post-holiday sales that have historically seen a 15 to 22 percent discount from December to January.
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In addition to waiting to shop due to inflation and other external economic factors, consumers said that to save money they will cut back on costs by not traveling (25 percent), opting out of gifting (24 percent), thrifting gifts (23 percent), boycotting brands that don’t offer free shipping or returns (11 percent), regifting all holiday gifts (8 percent) and/or taking out a second mortgage (5 percent).
Considering what this will mean for businesses and retailers, Petr Marek, cofounder and chief executive officer at Invoice Home, said the shift in consumer purchasing for the 2024 holiday season is evident. And with the findings in mind, he encouraged businesses to spend time now to enhance their online presence, adding holiday-specific keyword research and broadening reach to meet consumers where they are. “The most important piece of advice for businesses for the next few months: train your staff to deliver the best customer experience.”
To that end, when looking specifically at Millennial and Gen Z shoppers, the authors of the report said that data suggest the younger generations may be “holding grudges this season” and “expect more from brands,” stating that their experiences over the last year have shaped decisions to shop with certain retailers. These behavior-shifting experiences included increases in prices (31 percent of Gen Z and 33 percent of Millennials), rude or unresponsive customer service (21 percent of Gen Z and 22 percent of Millennials) and increased cost to return (15 percent of Gen Z and 17 percent of Millennials).
Importantly, the company’s survey found that consumers are still planning on spending for the holiday season. Eleven percent of survey respondents said they cannot afford to buy gifts this holiday season, but for those who do plan to shop, the most anticipated means of shopping will include sales during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend (38 percent), shopping in-store to avoid shopping fees (33 percent) and keeping an eye out for a second Amazon Prime Day (30 percent). Twenty-six percent of consumers said they would dip into savings to cover expenses, 18 percent plan to go into debt and 14 percent will leverage buy now, pay later services.
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