Tis’ the Digital Season:

Telling Shopping Trends from Holiday 2015

There’s no doubt that shoppers love deals. And in 2015, plenty of consumers looked for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals before making their holiday season purchases. But they’re not just looking for

day-of doorbusters. Instead, with digital deals popping up everywhere from inboxes to social media, shoppers are checking out price-slashing options weeks in advance.

These days, a longer shopping season is the new normal. Thanks partly to digital’s 24/7 opportunities, consumers may get ready to buy anytime from September to December and beyond — though they are often also constrained

by important holiday postal deadlines. Whether you want to reach early-bird, last-minute or even belated post-Christmas shoppers, these are some important lessons about when people engage and begin to make their actual purchases.

79%

of people surveyed browsed

online for gifts*

Over 1/2

of consumers spent more than 5 hours

doing holiday shopping online*

30% researched online

and made a majority of purchases online*

24% started looking for Cyber Monday and Black

Friday deals online a month before this past holiday season*

51%

of people that looked online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals did so more

than 2 weeks in advance*

Only 9%

of people started looking online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

deals the day before*

Total online sales over the deal-heavy weekend grew in 2015 over 2014 (+1.86%), with higher

conversion rates (+3.47%) and average order values (1.87%) this past holiday season**

Cyber Monday had

31%more sales than Black Friday**

1/3 of Millennials used a

mobile device or tablet to make holiday purchases*

56% of Millennials used multiple devices

to make purchasing decisions*

30% of respondents made

a purchase on a smartphone or tablet*

More Than

25% of gift purchasers

buy their gifts a few months or more in advance of the holidays*

Of the 79% who search for gifts online, more than

1/3

start their searches a few months or more before the holidays,

while another 17% search all year*

Nearly

1/3

There were increased sales (+2.5%) and orders (+1.86%) for Nov/Dec 2015 vs. the same months in 2014,

but a flat number of site sessions**

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Digital Deal Information Inspired Seasonal Decisions

Digital Has Helped Shift the Holiday Shopping Schedule

DIGITAL INFLUENCES AND DRIVES HOLIDAY PURCHASES

SHOPPERS LOOKED FOR BLACK FRIDAY AND/OR CYBER MONDAY DEALS IN ADVANCE

THE BLACK FRIDAY/CYBER MONDAY WEEKEND SPURRED INCREASED CLICKS AND ORDERS

THE SHOPPING JOURNEY IS SPREAD OVER MANY MONTHS

THERE ARE STRONG MOVES TOWARD MOBILE, PARTICULARLY BY MILLENNIALS

PEOPLE MADE FASTER PURCHASE DECISIONS ONLINE, WITH FEWER SITE VISITS

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Following Cyber Monday, purchases rise until December 15th,

the last day for standard shipping**

People engage with emails at noon & between 8-11pm**

Late shoppers grabbed gift cards: There were 72% more

searches for gift cards the week before Xmas than the first

week of December**

The highest email engagement on Cyber Monday occurs from 1-4pm EST**

Black Friday emails reach their highest engagement at noon, and

maintain engagement into the night**

Belated buyers checked out TVs: Searches peaked the day after Christmas

as deal-hunters scavenged for the best prices**

EMAIL ENGAGEMENT KEEPS DIGITAL SHOPPING HAPPENING AT ALL HOURS

SHOPPING HABITS MAY DETERMINE TYPES OF PURCHASES

OVERALL, THERE WERE FEWER, BUT MORE COMMITTED, LAST-MINUTE ONLINE SHOPPERS

POSTAL DELIVERY DATES ARE KEY SHOPPING DEADLINES

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DEC15

NOV

2015

had fewer last-minute online visits YoY (-6.17%), but higher conversion rates (+5.65) and average order value (+2.5% )**

less than 10%

of respondents purchased online the week of the holiday**

70% learned about deal info through email; 64% online search; 56% online ads; 38% social networks*

SHOPPERS FOUND OUT ABOUT DEALS THROUGH A VARIETY OF DIGITAL CHANNELS

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SOURCES: *Ipsos Connect, Commissioned by Magnetic, January 2016 **Magnetic Platform Insights, October – December 2014 & 2015

The term “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005, when experts noticed how online revenue and traffic steeply rose the day after the long Thanksgiving weekend. A decade later, consumers are surrounded by digital marketing all year

long. When the holidays roll around, they are comfortable dealing with multiple channels and devices, whether they search for products, gather gift information, buy online for delivery or purchase online with pickup in the store.

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Digital is at the Heart of Holiday Shopping

2015 was a very digital-focused holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), with more than half of seasonal shopping done online — including searching for deals, browsing products and buying. Online shopping, of course, has been growing at a fast clip for

years, but for the first time, according to the NRF, more people shopped online than in stores over Thanksgiving and the Black Friday weekend. And, there’s no doubt that people have started

looking for holiday items earlier than ever, both on their desktops and on mobile devices.

Before you know it, the next holiday season will be upon us. Are you ready to make the most out of key digital moments? New consumer data insights gleaned from Magnetic’s platform,

as well as a survey commissioned through market research company Ipsos, reveals prime opportunities to communicate with prospects and customers.

Here are three important trends driving the data:

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start making purchases a few weeks before the holiday*

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