Holiday 2022: How Will Shoppers Splurge vs. Save?

Wondering how consumers are planning to splurge vs. save this season, and how they plan to get in the holiday spirit? The Path to Purchase Institute checked in with our friends at 84.51˚ to see what their latest consumer research suggests when it comes to how brands should be thinking about connecting with shoppers along the path to purchase this holiday season.

“We’ve found that the top ways consumers plan to save during the holidays include cutting back on impulse purchases, buying items that are on sale, and switching to less expensive brands,” said Barbara Connors, VP of strategy and acceleration at 84.51°. “While the majority of shoppers are looking for ways to stretch their dollar this holiday season, some are willing to spurge via additional meal courses, non-essential items and switching to fresh. This means connecting with shoppers along their path to purchase is especially important this season, both in-store and online, because we know they’re willing to trade up or down on certain items to craft a holiday menu that fits their budget.”

 Here are a few interesting findings from their November Consumer Digest you can dig into:

 Splurging vs. Saving This Holiday Season

The top ways consumers plan to save during the holidays include cutting back on impulse purchases, buying items on sale vs. full price and switching to less expensive brands – these behaviors are relatively consistent across income groups.

• 62% of shoppers do not have plans to splurge on groceries this holiday, but for those who will splurge, they plan to do so via additional meal courses, non-essential items and switching to fresh items.
• 79% of customers will use loyalty cards the same amount or more during the holiday season vs. other times of years, increasing in use more than membership cards or store/retailer credit cards.

Holiday Grocery Shopping Considerations

When asked which of the following are more important when doing holiday shopping vs. normal grocery shopping, price is the top product attribute that raises in importance (55%), followed by quality (39%), quantity/size (34%), convenience (26%) and then brand (17%).

• On the other hand, 31% of shoppers claim they make the same considerations as usual when holiday shopping, so attribute importance doesn’t change.
• Shoppers plan to use a similar mix of modalities (in-store vs. online) when holiday grocery shopping.
• As of Nov. 8, only 4% of shoppers have completed holiday shopping and 60% have not yet started holiday shopping at all.

Crafting the Holiday Menu

A good chunk of consumers (42%) say their cooking enjoyment increases during the holiday season, while 34% say their grocery shopping enjoyment decreases during holidays. And consumers are finding their holiday recipe inspiration by sourcing family recipes and searching online for meal ideas.

• 72% of shoppers will serve/eat turkey as their main course this Thanksgiving, while 12% plan to use ham as their main course, and 6% will serve chicken.
• After holiday meals, 78% of shoppers plan to eat leftovers immediately, and 41% use them to make other types of meals.

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

Most gatherings are staying the same or growing this year. 24% of shoppers plan to gather with more people this upcoming holiday season, while 59% will gather with the same amount as last year.

• Shoppers are shifting activities this season, and planning to do less activities that are perceived as costly.
• The top activities seeing increases are watching holiday movies (34%), gathering with family and friends (27%) and decorating the home (21%).
• The top activities seeing decreases are spending money on entertainment (52%), going out to restaurants (47%) and traveling (46%).