What Annoys Consumers The Most When Holiday Shopping? Pointless Emails and Christmas Music in October
Nearly half of consumers plan to spend the same on holiday shopping and 20 percent will spend more
PORTLAND, Ore. — November 22, 2022 — In early November, 1,000 people in the U.S. were surveyed regarding their holiday gift shopping plans and attitudes, for example, what annoys them most? The survey found that even more than holiday music in October – the most annoying thing about shopping during the holiday season are the relentless, irrelevant brand emails flooding consumers’ inboxes.
According the survey, conducted by Pollfish and sponsored by Airship, the mobile app experience company:
- More than half (53%) of respondents said incessant, irrelevant emails are the most annoying part of holiday shopping
- Nearly half (47%) find Christmas music that starts too early in the season as the second biggest annoyance
- Broken or difficult to use app and website features were the third top annoyance, slightly edged out by Christmas music
- Despite concern of inflation:
- 44% of respondents stated they will spend the same amount on holiday shopping as last year, and 20% said they’ll increase their spending
- 34% will decrease spending and another 2% will eliminate holiday spending
- Across all generations, the majority are more likely to complete holiday shopping on a brand’s app, website or in-store (direct channels), versus indirect channels — search engines, social networks and third-party marketplaces. For brands, this drives higher margins, less competition and more first-party data
- One percent more shoppers said they begin holiday shopping on indirect vs. direct channels. This slight preference during the discovery or list-making stage of holiday shopping, held true across generations, other than Gen Z where 56% were still likely to favor direct channels
- When asked about smartphone use while shopping in-store, the top three activities consumers were most likely to perform were visiting the retailer’s website (89%), comparing prices (88%) and using the retailer’s app (82%)
Survey respondents were female and male consumers from 18 to 75+ years old.
About Airship
No one knows more, does more, or cares more than Airship when it comes to helping brands master mobile app experience (MAX). From the beginning of apps, Airship powered the first commercial messages and then expanded its data-led approach to all re-engagement channels (mobile wallet, SMS, email), app UX experimentation, no-code native app experience creation and App Store Optimization (ASO).
Having powered trillions of mobile app interactions for thousands of global brands, Airship’s technology and deep industry expertise have enabled apps to become the digital center of customer experience, brand loyalty and monetization. For more information, visit www.airship.com, read our blog or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.