The share of online purchases in the pre-Christmas period has increased by almost 4% year-on-year. According to the latest data, 63% of US consumers will buy all (or most) of their gifts online this Christmas via US and foreign e-shops applying promo codes. Generation Z shops online the most.
Americans plan to spend as much or more on Christmas presents than last year – despite high inflation and rising living costs
While the US consumers are learning to live with high prices while spending less on food and other essentials, these restrictions do not apply to Christmas gift purchases. With only a few weeks to go until Christmas, consumers are planning to spend similarly to last year, with some even increasing their Christmas gift-buying budgets compared to last year. While last Christmas Americans spent on average $826 per person on Christmas presents, this year US consumers plan to spend about another hundred dollars more. Christmas is thus becoming more generous every year, regardless of the financial situation.
E-shops exceeded the share of Christmas purchases in brick-and-mortar stores
The survey by experts on coupon sales from Promocodius shows that this Christmas season more than 60% of purchases will be made online applying promo codes. At least that’s what more than half of respondents said in a recent survey – 63% of American consumers plan to buy most of their Christmas gifts online with additional savings. However, there is a lot of competition among the US online retailers. For this reason, most of them are competing to see who can offer better prices on Black Friday, as well as on Cyber Monday. “From Black Friday until the last week before Christmas Eve, we have seen an increased interest in discount coupons and promo codes. Visitors to our website are mainly looking for discounts on electronics and clothing, but compared to other months of the year, there is also a growing interest in discounts on online purchases of toys and cosmetics,” confirms Lolita Belkina, Coupon Manager for the US market at Promocodius, the trend of the increase in the number of purchases made online.
Generation Z is driving online shopping forward, with young people also shopping via social media
The newest generation (those born between 1997 and 2012) changes the marketplace – they are called Generation Z and despite their limited spending power, they are the ones who are most willing to spend online, increasingly via social networks – so-called social e-commerce. A staggering 98% of Generation Z members use social media and many turn to TikTok to research products online before making a purchase. However, their desire for bargains is not limited to physical goods – young people mostly from Generation Z are also increasingly using discount coupons to acquire services and entertainment such as movies, music, and video games. “Users of our coupon website in their early twenties are interested in all new Apple Music discounts here, in special deals on Netflix subscription or for example in bonuses for World of Tanks”, sums up Belkina. And how does the younger generation drive forward Christmas shopping? Generation Z starts buying gifts earlier than older generations. According to Promocodius experts, younger people are shopping earlier to take advantage of retail sales and spread their spending over Christmas picking up the best offers. Retailers who are planning Christmas sales should step up their marketing on channels suitable for Generation Z at the start of the festive season. It’s questionable whether Gen Zers can maintain this pace of shopping, but they are already ahead of the game and may stay there.
