The holiday shopping season is kicking off, and these 10 stores/sites are the places Millennials and Gen Z say are their favorite to shop for gifts…
Four in five Millennials tell Ypulse that they plan to shop for the holidays this year, and we’ve calculated that their spending power could be over $25 billion (based on their own estimates of what they’ll spend on gifts for others, and “gifts” for themselves)—and that spending power is about to go into full effect, kicking off with Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. As we’ve said before, spending predictions for this holiday season have been coming in hot. Back in August, eMarketer reported that a major boost is predicted for holiday season sales—especially online. While total retail sales are expected to grow just 3.1%, ecommerce is predicted to jump nearly 17%, widening the “gap” between the two—a pattern we saw among Millennials last year. Online holiday shopping will reportedly make up 11.5% of total holiday season sales. But they’re shopping offline as well, of course: The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts a 3.8% rise in retail sales year over year, and found that nearly 92% of Millennials plan to spend some of their holiday budget in-store. With both their online and offline shopping vital to their holiday gifting plans (and of course, brands’ end of year earnings) we found out what stores and sites they want to shop at most.
We’ve told you what young consumers really want for the holidays this year, and what Millennials & Gen Z are planning to buy on Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and Ypulse’s holiday shopping survey and report looked closely at Millennials and Gen Z’s holiday shopping plans. In that survey, we asked 1000 13-35-year-olds, “What is your favorite store or site to shop at for holiday gifts?”* These are their top responses:
*This was an open-end response question to allow us to capture the full range of sites and stores that Millennials and Gen Z say are their favorite places to shop for gifts—without our preconceived ideas shaping their responses. As with any qualitative question, the responses include those that are top of mind and those that are most popular. The lists are ordered according to number of responses received, and alphabetically when ties occurred.
What Are Their Favorite Stores/Sites to Shop for Holiday Gifts?
13-34-year-olds
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Target
- Macy’s
- Best Buy
- Kohl’s
- Ebay
- JC Penney
- Etsy
- Local Shops
Sorry, brick-and-mortars. Though in-person shopping is still preferred by many young consumers, convenience seems to trump all when it comes to holiday shopping, and Amazon was by far the most-mentioned favorite place to shop for holiday gifts. We should also note that 53% of Millennials say they will be doing all their holiday shopping online and won’t set foot in stores (VS 46% in 2016). Big box stores are the next big-hitters on the list, with Walmart edging out Target by a nose.
To download the PDF version of this insight article, click here.
