Study Uncovers Preference for Shopping Online and More Willingness to Respond to Personalized Ads in Early February
NEW YORK, NY – Adroit Digital announced the results of a comprehensive study of how 1,000 U.S. consumers plan to shop for Valentine’s Day, including when they plan to shop, how they plan to shop, and what they plan to buy. The study revealed the heightened role online and digital advertising might play in a consumer’s shopping journey during the two weeks before Valentine’s Day this year. A critical time for brand advertisers and marketers to catch the eye of loving consumers annually, U.S. consumers spent close to $19 billion on Valentine’s Day goods in 2013, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
The survey targeted a random sample of U.S. consumers who self-identified as 18 years of age or older and who own both a smartphone and personal computer. The insights gained are meant to help agencies and brands evaluate how their Valentine’s Day efforts stack up against planned consumer behavior as they begin thinking about their purchases for loved ones.
Key Findings:
- Skipping the Store: More than half of all survey respondents (59 percent) indicated a preference to purchase their Valentine’s Day gifts online this year, including using smartphones and tablets, as opposed to in an actual retail store location.
- Prime Time for Purchases: 48 percent of consumers in the survey plan to make their Valentine’s Day gift purchases the first week of February, though women and men appear to have inverse shopping intentions.
- 47 percent of men think they’ll make their purchases the first week of February, compared with 27 percent of women.
- These figures flip the second week of February, with 25 percent of men planning to make purchases compared with 48 percent of women.
- Win Hearts and Wallets: The majority of consumers in the survey, 58 percent, indicated online ads, including tablet and mobile ads, will influence their Valentine’s Day purchase decision.
- Catch Them While You Can: 59 percent of survey respondents indicated that they think they’ll only visit one to three retail sites before making a purchase decision.
- Seal the Deal: 36 percent of shoppers in the survey said they were 50+ percent more likely to respond to a personalized ad than a generic ad.
- Drive Them to the Final Purchase: When shoppers are making their online purchase selections for Valentine’s Day this year, they’ll be looking for a few key offers. 64 percent would seek another site if free shipping wasn’t offered, and 48 percent would move on if they didn’t see Valentine’s Day specials.
With so much at stake (the bulk of all sales are expected to occur in a 13-day window), retailers will need to pay special attention to attracting shoppers and identifying specific tactics encouraging them to purchase. By leveraging all the channels at their disposal, including mobile devices and tablets, merchants can better connect with consumers throughout the sales funnel, until checkout.
“The winning formula for retailers this Valentine’s Day is recognizing the significant role that online ads will have in influencing purchase decisions. Shoppers are more likely to buy online if the ads they encounter are personalized,” said Scott German, GM of Adroit Digital. “If that’s not taken in to account, then retailers stand to miss out on billions of dollars in a two-week window.”
To download the full report, please visit: http://nasj01.marketo.com/lp/adroitdigital/blastpr.html
About Adroit Digital
At Adroit Digital, we believe people move technology, not the other way around. Our team of programmatic experts uses human insights, our exclusive data set and unmatched media access to intelligently drive marketing performance. We work hard to delight our customers every day. We have offices in New York, Boston and San Francisco. For more information, please email “hello@adroitdigital.com” or visit us online: www.adroitdigital.com/.
