"The vast majority of U.S. consumers plan to spend at least as much this year on holiday gifts as they did last year and will be turning to stores for holiday gift inspiration, according to results of the 13th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey from Accenture."

"Consumers still love physical stores and browsing them for holiday gift inspiration

The survey results go against the hype surrounding the demise of physical stores, with respondents saying they expect to do half of their holiday shopping this year in a store or mall, on average. Stores play an important role when it comes to inspiring shoppers’ gift ideas. In addition, consumers were significantly more likely to say that, after seeing an item in a store, they would purchase the item in the store rather than searching online for a better price and purchasing online."

“'While having a strong online proposition has become table-​stakes, physical stores will still play an important role in the future,' said Jill Standish, senior managing director and head of Accenture’s global Retail practice. 'With consumers planning to do half of their holiday shopping in-​store, retailers need to carefully plan their strategy for customer service, including labor, assortment and allocation of inventory. With creativity and ingenuity around the store footprint, retailers have an opportunity to leverage the surge in holiday foot traffic not only to increase holiday revenues but also to find those special customers who will be the loyal ones they depend on all year.'”

"Perhaps not surprising, 82% of respondents cited lower prices as the top factor that would tempt them to make an in-​store purchase, followed by special offers/​discounts (77%)."

“'Although monetary offers are a surefire way to lure in customers, retailers need to manage these incentives carefully, as they can take a big chunk of profits if not managed well,' said Lori Zumwinkle, a managing director at Accenture who leads its Retail practice in North America. 'Retailers should be using data-​driven approaches to understand the profitability of such tactics, to ensure visibility of inventory, and to build a granular understanding of the intersection between product, services and the customer as they try to outmaneuver competitors during the holidays. This is especially pertinent for gifts of clothing, given the heightened risk of returns and the associated costs.'”

Just because eCommerce Avoiders don't like online shopping doesn't mean they can't be influenced by digital ads this holiday season. For example, within the last month, according to AudienceSCAN, these shoppers used the internet to research a product they were considering, find coupons/​discount codes and view a local business' website. Additionally, within the last year, they were driven to action by email ads, ads on either their mobile smartphone apps or received via text and ads on daily deals sites such as Groupon. Traditional ads should be utilized as well, though, since, last year, these consumers were also driven to action by direct mail ads and TV commercials.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. In addition, AdMall contains industry profiles on malls/​shopping centers and department stores, as well as lead lists at the local level. Media companies, sales reps and agencies can access this data with a subscription to AdMall from SalesFuel.