Christmas is just a few weeks away. Each year millions of late shoppers have been waiting until the final days of the season to get their gifts.
According to data from Cardlytics, a credit card-linked marketing firm, late holiday shoppers make up 42 percent of all consumers in the final seven weeks of the year. They are defined by how frequently and often they make non-grocery retail purchases. These late shoppers are big spenders, shelling out an average of $770 USD in the final three weeks of the holidays. Their spending makes up the majority, 57 percent, of total dollars in that time frame.
Late Shoppers
• 42% of all shoppers are late
• Spend an average of $770 USD in the final three weeks of season
• Nearly double the $377 USD spent by early shoppers
• 67% of their total spending is in the final three weeks of season
• Overall, they spend an average of $1,148 USD on the holiday festivities
This is a valuable group to advertisers, because the holiday shopping season is getting stretched longer from both sides: starting earlier and seeing more procrastination at the very end.
These new dynamics change how advertisers need to think about reaching consumers.
Reaching the Late Shopper:
- The strategic advertising is different. Advertising early helps build momentum, but rely on late reminders to close the sales.
- In November/early December offers are less important, but getting/keeping the brand top-of-mind is critical, as is strong branding.
- Closer to Christmas gift ideas become more important. Make it easy for them. Promoting low-risk big-selling gift ideas from mid-December is a powerful tactic.
- Ads in local newspapers and social media make it easier to find those last-minute gifts without too much effort.