be a time of profound change would be an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic is The reinvention of retail to an extent that would have been unimaginable one year ago. Confronted with the first shutdown earlier this year, people migrated to their laptops and mobile devices and conducted much of their lives from their living rooms. They gravitated toward new streaming services, and over 60 percent tried new ways of shopping, from mobile app ordering to click-andcollect. On top of that, almost two-thirds of consumers abandoned their tried-and-true brands or retailers for something new, delivering a shock to loyalty.
For many retailers, this unprecedented scope of change and worsening economic climate due to
a fresh wave of COVID-19-related lockdowns is creating uncertainties heading into the holiday shopping season. Our holiday shopping survey analysis reveals big changes from previous years. For one thing, overall holiday spending is expected to decline in most countries (except China), as compared to 2019. However, our research shows
surprising levels of enthusiasm for deal hunting on blockbuster shopping days such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles Day, and Amazon Prime Day.
Much of this shopping will be digital. Even in areas where retail remains open, increasing numbers of consumers will shop from home or drive to the store to pick up their purchased items in an effort to avoid crowds and possible infection. Shoppers are also starting earlier to prevent a recurrence of delivery delays or barren shelves that were common earlier this year. This shift is pulling the holiday shopping season forward this year.
To help understand what all this means for retailers, we surveyed over 3,500 holiday shoppers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and France. This analysis highlights the six key trends that are shaping this year's holiday season.