The US holiday shopping season starts early! More than 40% of people look for deals on social media!

A new survey shows that Americans have already started holiday shopping. In addition, a trend worth noting is that this year's holiday shoppers will get information about "Black Friday" products and deals from a variety of channels.

Americans get holiday deals from a variety of sources

According to a recent survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers by Bazaarvoice, a provider of product review and user-generated content (UGC) solutions, 64% of respondents learned about Black Friday deals from ads (64%). Other popular channels were social media (46%), brand marketing emails (46%), and news articles and gift guides (42%).

About half (49%) of respondents follow brands on social media to find Black Friday deals. 45% of respondents are more likely to discover products on social media during Black Friday than through other channels. 25% of respondents will shop on social media during Cyber ​​Week (Black Friday to Cyber ​​Monday).

More than six in ten (63%) respondents said they expect to discover new products through social media during Cyber ​​Week, and three quarters (74%) said product reviews influence their purchasing decisions during Cyber ​​Week.

Additionally, nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents said they felt more confident in their purchases when they used user-generated content during Cyber ​​Week. Nearly two-thirds (64%) said they trusted user-generated content more than merchant-provided content, such as product descriptions and professional product photos.

Americans have already started holiday shopping

Eight in ten respondents (81%) said they shop in-store, 72% said they shop online, and 22% said they shop on social media.

About one in ten (11%) respondents have already done their holiday shopping in July, and 14% have already done their shopping in August. This compares to 19% in September, 35% in October, 57% in November, and 48% in December.

Large chain retailers (82%) are the most popular shopping destination, but consumers are more likely to patronize local small businesses (58%) than online retailers (55%).

Seven in ten respondents said they would give clothing as holiday gifts, 51% said they would give games and toys, 47% said they would give electronics, 40% said they would give food and drinks, 37% said they would give health and beauty products, and 36% said they would give jewelry.

“It seems like every year the holiday shopping season starts early, and this year it’s already started,” said Zarina Lam Stanford, chief marketing officer at Bazaarvoice. “With budgets tightening, consumers are looking for deals. To attract and excite shoppers, retailers need to make sure they have holiday deals available wherever they can find customers: on social media, e-commerce, in-store, and more.”

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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