PissedConsumer Holiday Shopping Survey: A Guide to 2024 Shopping Trends

Gaining holiday shopping insights can be beneficial for consumers. It’s true to say that holiday shopping trends change subtly every year, and 2024 is no exception. 

To get an accurate picture of shopping behavior during the festive season, the PissedConsumer.com survey shows what products consumers are searching for, how they plan to shop and what factors may influence their choices. 

Holiday shopping survey results demonstrate that holiday shopping doesn’t just happen near the holidays as consumers are planning purchases over time. In addition, shoppers are more aware of careful budgeting, with 74.1% saying inflation may impact their shopping.

Key Insights

• Shoppers are less likely to spend larger amounts this year, with 16.4% planning to pay more than $1,000 compared to 22% in 2023. 
• Consumers want to spread out holiday shopping, with 14.8% beginning in September and 25.5% in October. 
• Christmas is the most popular holiday event at 62% of those surveyed, with Black Friday in second place at 32.4%.

Are Consumers Planning to Shop This Holiday Season?

As the holiday shopping statistics by PissedConsumer.com show, one tradition that hasn’t disappeared is that the majority of consumers surveyed do plan to shop this holiday season. 

Over two-thirds of shoppers, 67.7% say they want to shop for the holidays, in comparison to 17.1% who aren’t planning on shopping and 15.2% who don’t know yet. These figures suggest that holiday shopping is still essential for many consumers, as they feel there are time-sensitive deals to be secured. 

Clearly, for many consumers, the festive season is important, with gifts for friends and family as a priority. However, those who aren’t planning on shopping give reasons for their decision, including 40.3% who say they shop when they need to, 30.1% who want to avoid overcrowding, 29.5% who feel retailers manipulate shoppers in the holiday period, and 26.1% concerned retailers raise prices before sales. 

As observed, price gouging is still an issue for many, and some shoppers strongly want to avoid prices they feel have been driven too high. 

The survey responses reflect a growing concern around inflation, as 28.4% say they won’t shop during the holiday season because of higher product prices and 4.8% state they are on a budget. This is also affecting holiday food shopping as 76.3% claim they are noticing Thanksgiving dinner ingredient prices increasing. 

It’s also noticeable that stress during shopping plays a role, with 24.4% reporting shops are more anxiety-inducing places during the holiday season. An important aspect for businesses is that 11.9% of respondents feel that customer service agents are ‘ruder’ during this period, impacting their enjoyment of shopping. 

Shoppers are looking to decrease the impact on their purses as they plan to shop over several months. The survey showed that 9.3% wanted to start in August, 14.8% in September, 25.5% in October and 36.2% in November, with only 14.2% waiting until December. 

These statistics tell us that spreading the cost of gift buying over several wage packets lessens the burden and helps shoppers budget more successfully. 

Which Events Are Important for Consumers?

Holidays might just make you think of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Nowadays, the Cyber Five is big news for consumers, with the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday increasing in importance. 

In fact, PissedConsumer.com survey respondents confirm this, with 21.5% shopping for Thanksgiving, 32.4% purchasing on Black Friday, 19.9% on Cyber Monday and 11.1% on Small Business Saturday. 

Christmas still generates the most shopping with 62% planning to shop in 2024. In addition, a Black Friday survey shows that 37.4% of respondents are undecided about how much they plan to spend until they see the right deal. 

These PissedConsumer holiday shopping survey figures reveal that shoppers prioritize finding the right product at the most reasonable price. One of the explanations for such behavior may be the current economic challenges, such as high energy costs or rising bills, which may impact shoppers' disposable income.

Consumer confidence is still high around sales, as 46.8% of respondents believe deals are ‘good and true’. The traditions involved in holiday shopping mean a lot to consumers, with 31.7% expressing their importance. These statistics show that holiday shopping is still one of the most essential consumer periods of the year, a time that shoppers look forward to for great deals and gift buying. 

Timeliness is also a key factor, with 26.6% concerned about product availability. Time pressures also affect 14.6% of shoppers as they are afraid they will miss sales and won’t secure the right deals.

Better delivery costs (13.1%) and better quality (9.6%) also make a difference to consumers, who want to get the best possible product at the most competitive delivery price. 

Consumer Holiday Shopping Budget Trends

Inflation has become a common consumer talking point. Inflation measures how quickly prices for goods and services, such as food and clothing, are increasing. Our holiday shopping survey found that 74.1% think inflation may impact their behavior, in contrast to 13.4% who hadn’t considered it and 12.5% who didn’t think it would stop holiday shopping. 

As a result, we are seeing shoppers making decisions to save money this holiday season. For example, 56.8% are waiting for sales to secure their desired goods. Some are consciously buying less, with 38% wanting to purchase fewer gifts. Planning ahead of time is on shoppers’ minds, with 31% of respondents choosing to buy earlier. 

Some shoppers are maximizing any bargain opportunity they find, with 22.5% using coupons and around 15.4% choosing cheaper brands. The surge in Chinese retail websites, like Shein and Temu, is also noticeable as 18.5% plan to buy from these online companies. All these details reflect the fact that budgets are tight for shoppers who want to buy products but don’t want to spend too much. 

The "make do and mend" trend is making a comeback with 11.9% of shoppers creating DIY gifts for loved ones. However, there are still 8.2% of shoppers who don’t want to change their holiday shopping habits by saving money on gifts. 

Looking closely at their wallets, consumers are weighing up how much to spend during the holiday season this year. In comparison to last year, when 22% spent more than $1,000, this year only 16.4% aim to spend that much. Additionally, 29.8% want to spend $500-1,000 this year, contrasting with 33.5% last year. 

However, more people want to spend slightly smaller amounts with 38.4% looking to spend $100-500 this year, compared to 32.7% in 2023. Plus, nearly 5% more are going to spend $1-100 this year than last year. People might be looking at their disposable income, seeing where they can cut costs and enjoy holiday shopping in 2024. 

Where Are Consumers Shopping?

Advertising is still a persuasive force when it comes to shoppers grabbing deals, with 36.9% saying they rely on ads and promo deals to find gift ideas. For some, the traditional way is the best, as 27.7% ask family and 8.2% talk to friends about great gift ideas. New technologies are having an influence, as 5.6% use online search engines, 2.6% follow social media influencer tips and 1.6% ask an AI (artificial intelligence) tool. 

This could imply that these areas are going to increase in importance over the next few years as people rely more on social media and even start trusting AI to find them the best holiday shopping deals. 

Online shopping availability attracts consumers to shop with certain retailers. Often, this is down to convenience and easy access. Unsurprisingly, 73.7% plan to buy with Amazon, 51.6% with Walmart, 21.6% with Target and 19.4% at Costco. 

Some of these decisions reflect an interest in budgeting, as does the fact that 26.8% plan to shop on the Temu site, a newer online retailer but one known for more reasonable pricing. The statistics tell us that shoppers want to buy from larger companies that deliver quickly and at a lower cost to help their monthly income stretch further. 

What Are Consumers Planning to Buy?

In line with previous years, the holiday shopping survey shows consumers want to purchase a diverse range of products. As you would expect, 67.8% plan to buy clothing and footwear, 41.6% are purchasing gift cards, 36.7% jewelry or accessories and 25% are planning to get beauty products as gifts for loved ones this year. 

Technology is also making an appearance on the gift list, with 21.1% planning to buy smartphones or electronics and 15.9% buying video games as gifts for friends and family. Another nod to the online world, 4.3% are planning to give online subscriptions as holiday gifts. 

Is Black Friday Still Important for Shoppers? 

As holiday shopping trends continue over several months, do shoppers think Black Friday is still worthwhile? Actually, the results are split: 42.5% feel it’s not as good for grabbing products at reasonable prices. But 25.9% still see it as relevant and 25.2% think it’s good but not as relevant as before, with 6.3% saying Black Friday meets their needs. 

Are Reviews Important to Consumers?

In a world that’s rapidly moving online, reviews are becoming a helpful tool for consumers. This is because they share experiences, consumer insights, and help other shoppers to avoid wasting money or buying a lower grade product.

The PissedConsumer.com holiday shopping survey reflects this as 53.2% would write an online review after completing holiday shopping, 12.6% would review after a negative experience, 9.1% after a positive experience and only 16.1% said they don’t write online reviews. 

What’s more, shoppers are becoming more aware of scamming risks. Fortunately, 55.6% say they haven’t been scammed, but 26% of shoppers have been scammed once and 13% many times. Being familiar with scamming trends, such as fake websites and phishing emails, is a good way to keep your money and personal information safe. 

Consumers Still Want to Holiday Shop

The main message of the PissedConsumer holiday shopping survey is that consumers still want to shop for the holidays and find the right gifts for loved ones. However, it’s true that they also want to secure the best deals and avoid the pitfalls of a scam. 

A key method that many shoppers are now using is checking online reviews. It’s a quick and effective way to learn about hot deals, trusted companies, and gift trends for the holidays. 

Methodology

PissedConsumer.com, a review and reputation management platform, conducted an online survey of 1032 website visitors from the United States (73.4%), Canada (12.9%), the United Kingdom (12.2%) and Australia (1.5%) as of September 2024.