In this edition of the Glossy+ Research Briefing, we examine marketers’ revenue expectations for the upcoming holiday season from our recently released 2024 playbook for holiday marketing and commerce.
Consumers are shopping more this holiday season — but with a budget in mind
The holiday shopping outlook is looking merry and bright this year, with more than one-third of brands and retailers (35%) expecting holiday spending to increase 11%-30% this year in comparison to last year’s actual revenue. During the 2023 and 2022 holiday seasons, marketers cautiously planned for seasonal revenue growth of 10% or less, according to Glossy’s previous holiday surveys. This year, however, brands and retailers are expressing more optimism about 2024 seasonal spending.
According to Deloitte’s 2024 holiday retail survey, consumers expect to spend 8% more this holiday season than they did last year. Deloitte attributed this jump to 43% of consumers expecting the economy to improve this year and 70% expecting higher retail prices. With this in mind, shoppers plan to spend an average of $1,778 this holiday season.
Retail executives are also feeling optimistic about holiday spending, according to Deloitte’s survey. Eighty percent of retail executives expect higher sales thanks to anticipated traffic growth both in-store and online. But executives are cautiously optimistic — 76% believe consumers will value lower prices over brand loyalty.
Deloitte’s survey also found that 62% of consumers said they will purchase an alternate brand this holiday season if their preferred brand is too expensive. And, nearly half of respondents (48%) said they will shop at affordable retailers instead of preferred retailers, or seek out private labels or dupe products instead of buying the original item (40% of respondents).
Although consumers will be searching for the best holiday deals, brands and retailers may not fulfill their customers’ desires for deep discounts this year. In Glossy’s survey, the majority of respondents (71%) said they will offer similar discounts in 2024 as the discounts they offered in 2023.
If they are not able to offer heavier discounts, brands and retailers may need to focus more on building stronger brand loyalty with consumers, according to Lupine Skelly, retail, wholesale and distribution research leader at Deloitte. “That’s one of our big takeaways this year,” she shared. “As people shift their share of wallet somewhere else, or are so focused on discounting, it’s really important for retailers to build that loyalty.”
