Survey reveals how COVID-19 impacted 2020 holiday shopping season

Not every holiday shopper hunting for Christmas gifts in late 2020 went online to buy a present. A Silverback Strategies survey reveals 75% of shoppers visited a physical store and, of that group, nearly 80% made a purchase in the store while others used curbside pickup and buy online pickup in-store options.

Additional findings from the survey, which polled 1,048 consumers, include:

• 83% purchased online during the 2020 holiday season. For consumers who spent more than $500 on holiday gifts, that number jumped to a 94%. More than half of consumers who purchased gifts online said they visited a retail store website.
• 45% purchased a product online after they saw it in store. The research findings suggest "purchase intent," or how likely a buyer considers a purchase at a given time, was higher in-store than online. This was particularly true of certain product categories, like jewelry and watches, where buyers were nearly 30% more likely to consider buying at a retail store compared to online.