Nearly One Out of Five U.S. Shoppers (18%) Want to Get Started Returning Gifts and Cashing In on Post-Holiday Sales on Christmas Day; 94% of Shoppers Say Holiday Rush Is No Excuse for a Wait at Checkout

CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Why wait until December 26? Throw the doors open on Christmas for
returns and sales appears to be the message to retailers, particularly
from millennials.

When LoyaltyOne Consulting, a firm specializing in assessing, designing
and implementing analytics-driven loyalty and customer experience
strategies, asked 1,267 American consumers nationwide in November what
they would do if retailers opened for business at 6PM Christmas evening,
18% of general population respondents (age 18 to 65 and older) said they
would take advantage of the extra time to shop.

Among millennials in the 18-24 age group, 30% said they’d shop on
Christmas. Among older millennials in the 25-34 year-old age bracket,
27% said they’d leave hearth and home on Dec. 25 to head for the mall.

Conversely, 24% of the general population said they wouldn’t shop on
Christmas, and would be less likely to shop in the future at a store
open on Christmas, or recommend such a store to friends and family.

Moreover, 58% of the general population said simply that they’d never
shop on Christmas. The never-shop-on-Christmas score for young
millennials (age 18-24) fell to 53%, for older millennials (age 25-34)
it was 52%.

While consumers appear divided on the shop-on-Christmas issue, they are
united in demanding that retailers put their best foot forward when it
comes to customer service during the holiday season, their busiest time
of the year:

• 94% of all shoppers surveyed said they expect retailers to take extra
  measures to keep checkout lines moving during the holiday rush
• 80% of shoppers said they blame the retailer if they have to wait
  because of another customer’s coupons, returns or customer service
  problems; except in the millennial demographic, where four out of ten
  said they resent the other customer, not the store, for making them
  wait
• 89% of all shoppers said they expect retailers to take extra measures
  to keep departments orderly despite the busy season
• 59% of shoppers said holiday gift return policies make or break their
  opinion of a retailer
• 20% of shoppers reported an unhappy experience during last year’s
  gift-buying season that completely ruined their holiday mood; for
  young millennials (18-24) that score soared to 40% and for older
  millennials (25-34) it was 30%.

“Consumers are telling us in this survey that the holiday gift-buying
season is, itself, a high-risk touchpoint. Shoppers are demanding
retailers maintain service levels, they’re making it clear to retailers
they’re not prepared to cut them any slack when it comes to their
expectations,” LoyaltyOne Consulting Managing Partner Dennis Armbruster
said. “Retailers that focus on pricing, assortment and other operational
concerns but fail to invest adequately in delivering high-quality
service during the holidays are risking long-term revenue losses.”

Despite the reputation that crowded parking lots have for keeping
shoppers away, survey takers indicated their time is a more precious
commodity than a parking space. When asked why they avoided stores
completely during the holiday season, 36% of shoppers said their primary
reason is waiting too long at the checkout.

LoyaltyOne Consulting is owned by LoyaltyOne. Its survey results are
based on an online survey in November 2015 of 1,267 American consumers.
The margin of error is +/- 3% at the 90-95% confidence level.

About LoyaltyOne

Toronto-based LoyaltyOne is a global leader in the design and
implementation of coalition loyalty programs, customer analytics and
loyalty services for Fortune 1000 clients around the world. LoyaltyOne’s
unparalleled track record delivering sustained business performance
improvement for clients stems from its unique combination of hands-on
practitioner experience and continuous thought leadership. LoyaltyOne
has over 20 years history leveraging data-driven insights to develop and
operate some of the world’s most effective loyalty programs and
customer-centric solutions. These include the AIR MILES Reward Program,
North America’s premier coalition loyalty program; a majority stake in
European-based BrandLoyalty, one of the largest and most successful
campaign-driven loyalty marketers outside of the Americas; and a working
partnership with Latin America’s leading coalition program, dotz.
LoyaltyOne is also the owner of COLLOQUY, a group dedicated to research,
publishing and education for the global loyalty industry.

Contacts

For LoyaltyOne
Tim Sansbury or Laura Arnold, 513-231-5115
Tim@Forza-Marketing.com
Larnold@Forza-Marketing.com