This holiday shopping season will be unlike any other due to the impact of COVID-19, but it isn’t dampening consumer enthusiasm for retail promotions, according to a new survey of US adults 18+ from OAAA and LoopMe. Nearly half (43%) of the survey respondents who will be shopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday report they’ll be looking for ad signage promoting special sales and deals. As the last ad many consumers see just prior to a purchase, OOH takes on added relevance during the biggest shopping season of the year.
According to the research, 50 percent of the survey respondents will be shopping on Black Friday with roughly half shopping online and half shopping in physical stores:
- Among the 52% planning to do Black Friday shopping online, OOH will have a high propensity to influence these shoppers as Nielsen has found OOH to be more efficient in driving online activation than TV, print, radio or banner ads. In addition, recent research from The Harris Poll reported 68% of US adults are suffering from digital online burnout and tuning out digital online ads.
- With the 48% who will be shopping in physical stores, the bulk of their planned purchases will come from shopping centers and locally owned stores (18% each), followed by big box stores (9%), and discount club stores (4%).
The LoopMe survey found 13 percent of the respondents plan to spend at least half of their holiday shopping budget on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, while 24 percent plan to spend at least one quarter of their holiday budget on these two key dates. Despite the emphasis placed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 68 percent of consumers plan to spend 10 percent or less of their total holiday shopping budget on these two days, reinforcing the importance of the entire holiday shopping season.
The use of contactless transactions has soared during the pandemic, and this trend conveys to consumer shopping intent for these marquee shopping dates. Nearly forty percent (38%) of Black Friday in-person shoppers report an interest in ad signage offering discounts and specials via QR codes, NFC sensors or SMS text. Interest in promotions offered through these interactive technologies rises in conjunction with projected Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending as a percentage of total holiday expenditures. Among Black Friday in-person shoppers planning to spend least half of their holiday budget on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 58 percent are interested in ad signage offering discounts or specials via QR codes, NFC sensors or SMS text.
The majority of planned purchases for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be generated in these key product categories:
- Clothing and shoes = 37%
- Consumer electronics = 28%
- Household goods = 18%
- Sporting goods = 12%
- Jewelry = 5%
The top two categories, clothing and shoes, and consumer electronics, also generate the highest interest in promotional ad signage and technology options such as QR codes, NFR and SMS:
- 80% of Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers spending primarily on clothes or shoes will be looking for ad signage for special sales and deals.
- 58% of Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers spending primarily on consumer electronics will be looking for ad signage for special sales and deals.
- 74% of Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers spending primarily on clothes or shoes are interested in Black Friday ad signage offering discounts or specials via QR codes, NFC sensors or SMS text.
- 58% of Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers spending primarily on consumer electronics are interested in Black Friday ad signage offering discounts or specials via QR codes, NFC sensors or SMS text.
This new research from LoopMe parallels last month’s Harris Poll research underscoring the power of OOH to influence shoppers this holiday season. The Harris Poll study found 70 percent of US adults had an increased appreciation for the outdoors, and 45 percent reported they were noticing OOH advertising more than pre-pandemic. The increased rate of notice of OOH ads jumps to 69 percent among adult consumers in urban areas of one million plus.
Click here to access the survey and Infographic.
Source: OAAA, LoopMe, Nielsen, The Harris Poll
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