Amazon A Holiday Shopping Staple

Astound Commerce just released a Holiday Report infographic based on a survey that reveals key insights into consumers’ shopping behavior, in-store preferences and social commerce actions.

Price and free shipping are the top two influencers of purchasing decisions among consumers, with 79 percent and 68 percent responding as such, respectively. Other top factors are the product’s availability, past retailer experience and guaranteed on-time delivery.

The survey also found that social media is key for online customers: 75 percent seek customer service from Facebook, 37 percent use Pinterest to stay on top of trends and 59 percent watch video reviews on YouTube.

Millennials are projected to be a massive driver of revenue, with a combined purchasing power of over $200 billion. Millennials valued same-day delivery options over older consumers. Thirty-five percent of millennials said that retailers offering a same-day delivery option would cause them to make a purchase over another, versus 27 percent of other customers.

Millennials were also more likely to be swayed by retailers that offered in-store pickup, live chat customer service and fewer shipping cutoff dates. Millennials were also more likely to order on a mobile device, 46 percent versus 36 percent.

The survey found that 46 percent of consumers will shop on Amazon this holiday shopping season, and 43 percent are set to buy at least half of their gifts from Amazon. Sixty-five percent of consumers will buy from a retailer that isn’t Amazon when prices are better (65 percent) or when the competitor has faster delivery times or has special offers.

The survey also found that 55 percent of consumers prefer to interact with technology than sales associates when shopping for tech in-store.

This year’s holiday shopping season is projected to generate almost $92 billion in revenue. Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are expected to bring in $8.4 billion alone.