Online Holiday Spending To Increase 18 Percent

Even more customers will online shop when it comes to the holiday shopping season this year.

According to the latest holiday sales forecasts from Visa, nearly half (47 percent) of consumers will shop online during the holidays and 33 percent of those will shop from their mobile devices.

Visa estimates that the projected increase in total online spending will rise by 18 percent this year, TechCrunch reported, compared to just a 16 percent jump last year. While online sales and shopping are expected to surge, the consumer study also found that there are still certain items shoppers prefer to purchase in-store, such as clothing, accessories and home décor.

When it comes to those shopping via mobile, items like books, CDs and DVDs, video games, toys, electronics, and sporting goods tend to be at the top of the list of things of buy.

Back in October, a survey by Deloitte revealed large physical merchants are expected to see their traffic decrease from 63 percent of consumers last year to 59 percent this year. Specifically, shopping malls will have a drop in traffic from 53 percent to 50 percent, while independent stores outside of malls will decrease from 42 percent to 38 percent.

“Retailers must cater to that digital mindset long before someone walks into a store,” Deloitte Vice Chairman Rod Sides said in a press release. “If retailers treat online and in-store shopping as mutually reinforcing rather than competitive forces, they can create more opportunities across the business. Customer expectations are being shaped as much by the digital experience as the in-store experience. As a result, retailers should map digital features that matter to the consumer to their brand.”

Based on the numbers, it’s clear that the internet will be the go-to destination for holiday shopping this season.

Shoppers will also continue to use showrooming — doing research in stores before buying online — by a rate of 50 percent. But even more (66 percent) will go for webrooming, which is when they look for an item online but then buy it in-store later.

“In addition, 43 percent of those surveyed say they expect to take advantage of retailers that let you purchase online and pick up in a store (another good sign for Walmart, Target and Best Buy, which all offer that feature),” the report continued.