Holiday Shopping Puts U.S. Consumers in a Better Mood

As savvy U.S. shoppers demonstrated their on- and off-line prowess, searching for deals, and mapping out their routes at home before heading out to shop this Thanksgiving weekend, two things happened. For one, they spent less overall – a whopping $1 billion less, according to retailing research firm ShopperTrak. In addition, their moods improved.

Ipsos Mobile followed a representative national sample of shoppers before and after Thanksgiving to understand Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping intentions, as well as the actual outcome. One of the many strengths of mobile research is that it can happen in the moment, or close to the moment of people’s experience. This can help overcome limitations of memory recall, and also, provide immediate feedback on factors like what mood the shopper is in at the time.

Comparing responses from shoppers before and after their holiday shopping trips, 68% more described their mood as “happy” after they completed their shopping trips than before (37% vs. 22%). A number of factors may explain this: retailers meeting or exceeding service, item and savings expectations; the enjoyment of spending time with friends and family while shopping; completing their shopping tasks; or simply having a few more dollars left in their pockets than the same time last year.

One reason shoppers may be happier is because of who they were shopping for: themselves. Fully 57% of shoppers said they were buying something they wanted for themselves and, among those, 61% were also buying for someone else, enjoying the benefits of both giving and receiving.

Another reason may be the degree to which they allowed themselves to make impulse purchases. Even though only 9% of shoppers said they were not shopping for anything or anyone specific, two-thirds made an unplanned purchase in at least one product category. The biggest beneficiaries of impulse purchasing included Apparel, Electronics, Toys/Games/Dolls, Food/Beverages and Entertainment. Meanwhile, staple holiday departments such as Apparel and Electronics showed large declines between intention and actual buying, suggesting a possible mismatch between pre-shop expectations and offerings in the stores.

“Shoppers left their homes with intentions to spend big, planning to visit 3.7 stores, spend $446 and 3.8 hours shopping, on average,” says Philip McGee, President, Global Shopper and Retail, Ipsos. “But with 73% of Thanksgiving and Black Friday shoppers also shopping online, there’s one more reason to be happy: more time for food, family and football.”