The holiday season draws near, and spending predictions and research studies about holiday season shopping abound. That includes Google Canada’s release of new insights around consumer shopping plans and tips on how retailers and advertisers can prepare. Google commissioned Ipsos data to gather the research.
One key insight is that last-minute shopping is dead. In fact, according to the research, only 13% of Canadian shoppers wait until the last minute to do their holiday shopping. Nine weeks was the average time elapsed from the time Canadians started thinking about holiday shopping to completing it and Google says 50% of Canadians surveyed are shopping even earlier this year.
AI is having a major impact on holiday shopping this year. Eric Morris, managing director of Retail, Google Canada, says, “AI is not only the gateway to winning shoppers this holiday season, it will be the only way retailers can predict their customers, predict their sales and assure they have the inventory needed to get through the holiday season.
“We’re already observing the transformative effect AI can have on the retail industry. In fact, 80% of our customers are already using AI-powered search ads products, and more than 25% of all YouTube video advertisers have an automatically generated video asset in their campaign.”
For retailers, Morris says AI is the single most powerful tool retailers have to drive predictable outcomes, achieve higher demand-forecast accuracy, replace outdated inventory planning processes and provide better and more timely experiences for customers shopping online.
The Google research illustrates the strong influence that digital has on shopping decision with 92% of Canadians searching online before visiting a store, and 86% say they discovered products and brands while browsing online.
Morris says, “We have reached a tipping point where digital isn’t just driving online sales but all sales. Based on the research, we’re seeing digital-savvy Canadian shoppers getting more specific with their searches and looking for personalization this holiday and retailers need to adapt their marketing strategies to catch these shoppers, and match the increasingly immersive, entertaining and fun formats of content consumers are engaging with online.”
Canadian consumers are undecided on whether to save or splurge and are trying to stretch their dollars this year according to Google. “While we’re seeing more searches for discount codes, searches for luxury eyewear and Louis Vuitton belt bags have doubled in the last year,” says Morris. “Many shoppers don’t fit squarely on one side or the other – they’re choosing value for some purchases, luxury for others.”
