77 percent of consumers to shop local and omnichannel this holiday season

A Mastercard survey has revealed that 77% of US-based consumers will choose to shop local this holiday season both online and in-store.

These findings are supplemented by a Mastercard SpendingPulse analysis of retail sales in the 20 largest US metropolitan areas, where total retail sales grew 4.1% in October and cities including Atlanta, Houston, and Orlando emerged as leading the retail recovery.

Holiday shoppers are planning to prioritize small (78%), minority-(68%), women-(68%) and Black-owned (66%) businesses, and 53% note that they would rather not receive a gift at all than to receive one from a retailer whose personal values don’t align with their own.

More than half (58%) say they are less stressed about shopping compared to years past and are leaning into the unique holiday season by updating old traditions (51%), embracing virtual celebrations (29%), planning contactless gift exchanges (23%), and more.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed plan to shop in stores that have contactless payments options. Additionally, shoppers are prioritizing gift cards and mobile payments options, with 64% noting that they are actively trying to not give cash as a gift this year. Further, 52% of respondents said they are planning to ship more gifts to their loved ones homes this year to avoid person-to person contact.

82% say they are likely to shop online this year, with 55% expecting to complete most of their shopping online. While 88% of those cutting back on in-store shopping say they will miss elements of that experience, such as the holiday music and the ability to touch and feel items before purchasing, the benefits of staying home outweigh the cons – such as waiting in lines (74%), pushy or rude customers (65%) and finding parking (56%).

This holiday season, shopping early, online and local is top of mind for many. But what this looks like on the ground varies – with the recovery playing out very differently from community to community.

As Americans continued to spend more time – and money – at home, national retail growth was led by sales in furniture and furnishing (+20.1%). Similarly, as more meals were consumed at home, national grocery sales skyrocketed (+7.1%) across the US.

This survey was conducted online within the US by The Harris Poll on behalf of Mastercard from October 8-13, 2020 among 2,017 US. residents. Respondents were screened for credit card use.