Holiday shoppers stick with online-only retailers, but the venue is changing

For holiday shopping, 56% of US consumers prefer online-only retailers, and 49% favor mass merchants, according to Deloitte. Off-price retailers rank No. 3 on this list, nearly tied with the remaining four retail formats.

Beyond the chart: Preference for off-price stores and warehouse clubs has risen slightly since 2020. Supply chain problems and inflation have likely contributed to this trend, pushing consumers to focus on value over brand loyalty.

For the first time, more than one-third of US consumers plan to use social media for holiday shopping, per the same study. That figure is much higher for younger generations: 60% among Gen Zers and 56% among millennials, up about 10 percentage points each from last year. While many will use social media to visit retailers’ pages, more consumers than ever plan to look at influencer reviews for holiday shopping inspiration.

More like this:

• Report: Retail Loyalty Programs
• Article: Walmart, TalkShopLive add some holiday cheer to live commerce
• Article: Buy now, pay later sees holiday spike. Will low consumer adoption slow down the major players next year?

Methodology: Data is from an October 2022 "2022 Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey." During September 6-14, 2022, 4,986 US internet users were surveyed online. The survey has a margin of error of +/-1-2 percentage points for the entire sample.