The changing of the leaves and crisp air means only one thing, the holiday season is quickly approaching. Whether you’re ready or not, it’s crunch time for sellers and businesses to prepare for the most important shopping season of the year.
As a trusted partner to sellers and brands, we understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve and providing you with the most relevant insights to inform your inventory strategy and impactful ad campaigns during the season.
We’re excited to share our fourth annual Holiday Guide, featuring key insights we uncovered, as well as best-practice tips, so you can maximize your holiday sales potential.
Our team of experts gathered valuable shopper sentiment data to ensure that this year’s holiday guide is filled with the most current insights on consumer behavior. We conducted a shopper survey that included over 3,000 participants, inclusive of 1,500+ eBay buyers. We asked key questions top of mind for you, discovering consumer spending habits, the importance of online shopping, and what major factors will influence shopper purchases this year.
Let’s dive into the findings of this year’s survey and uncover the insights you need to wrap up more sales this holiday season.
eBay is a top destination for holiday shoppers
Marketplaces are the starting point for the majority of holiday shopping journeys. This is emphasized by the majority of U.S. consumers surveyed (71%) saying they begin their holiday shopping on online marketplaces.
eBay was named as one of the top three destinations for holiday shopping and great deals. This gives eBay a unique edge on the season, as the marketplace is home to a wealth of holiday shoppers who start their search specifically with us.
The impact of ads is great
Survey data showed that one-third (33%) shoppers say they are very influenced by ads during the holidays, with more than 50% of gifts they purchase being different from what they originally intended to purchase, due to ads. This percentage rises to almost half (47%) of Millennial shoppers.
For eBay sellers, this emphasizes the need for well-targeted and measured advertising campaigns, as eBay shoppers are highly influenced during the season.
Shoppers will spend more than they plan to
We found that six in ten (61%) of all surveyed shoppers ended up spending more than expected on holiday gifts last year. Can you relate? In addition to holiday gifts, holiday decorations also caused shoppers to overspend, with 46% of all shoppers spending more than expected on decorations.
While buyers are likely to splurge and spend a bit more than they anticipate, they will still demand quality items at great values. In fact, more than half (53%) of shoppers cited good value for money as a priority when shopping for gifts this year. Being competitive with pricing, and strategic with when and how you boost visibility of your listings with advertising is critical to maximizing the value of your ad spend.
There’s so much more to discover about eBay consumer habits over the holiday season and how sellers can take advantage of them to wrap up more sales, which we delve into in the full guide.
Click the download button to read this year’s full report and find tips around how to act on these shopper insights.