This past holiday season, my organization, Applause, conducted its fifth annual global survey on holiday shopping trends. With over 7,200 respondents from across the globe, the 2024 holiday shopping season revealed some interesting trends for consumers and retailers.
The Importance of Seamless Ecommerce Experiences
A reliable online shopping experience is becoming increasingly important to consumers, especially at checkout:
- 26% of respondents said they would abandon an online purchase if they encountered a bug at any point during the experience.
- 63% of respondents said they would abandon their shopping carts after a maximum of two purchase attempts, with 18% willing to try a third time.
- Consumers are more likely to abandon a purchase at checkout (28%) than at any other part of the online shopping journey.
Evolving Payment Options
Consumers are continuing to diversify the way they make purchases, both in store and online — and if their preferred payment method isn't accepted, it's likely a dealbreaker:
- 52% of respondents said they have started using a new payment method within the last year, such as a digital wallet, cryptocurrencies, and EFTs.
- 76% of consumers are likely to abandon a transaction if their preferred payment method is not accepted.
- Despite growing demand for digital wallets, respondents shared that only 58% of providers accept them.
AI, Mobile, and Social Media on the Rise
Mobile devices and social media are being used more often for online shopping, and AI is also now part of the holiday shopping experience:
- 72% of respondents preferred to use a smartphone or tablet vs. a laptop or desktop for online shopping, up from 68% last year.
- 76% of respondents said social media sometimes or often influences their holiday shopping.
- 37% of respondents used AI to help with their holiday shopping this past year, primarily for purchasing an item recommended on social media or a website, finding gifts via visual search, or getting gift recommendations from a chatbot. Specifically: 62.2% purchased a recommended item, 51.5% used AI for a visual search to help locate a gift and 51.2% asked an AI chatbot for gift recommendations based on a person's interests.
Omnichannel Options Grow
It is increasingly essential for brands to provide a seamless omnichannel experience:
- 48% of respondents said they would leave a brand due to poor omnichannel shopping experiences.
- 44% of consumers have encountered an issue with buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) options, with the main issue being the purchase was not ready to collect despite email confirmation that it was (23%).
- The main omnichannel experience issue for this holiday season was curbside pickup. Again, users found that their purchases were not ready as confirmed — others simply couldn't find the option on the app or website, among other challenges.
Bugs Persist With Online Shopping
Bugs and issues are still a part of the online shopping experience for many:
The most common issues for online shopping were:
- Website crashes (43%)
- Errors with discount codes and coupons (34%)
- Unable to find items on the website (28%)
- Unable to add items to cart (21%)
- Unable to complete payment transactions (19%)
The 2024 holiday shopping season showed us that consumers are less tolerant than ever when it comes to poor quality online shopping experiences. As brands continue to add omnichannel experiences and accept more payment options, they must account for increasingly complex customer journeys and test those journeys accordingly. Looking ahead, organizations need to prioritize a seamless customer experience, taking lessons learned from the challenges and issues that impacted the last holiday shopping season.
