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More holiday shoppers stream TV in a typical week than watch traditional TV
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Ninety-eight percent of Gen Z and Millennial holiday shoppers have streamed in the past three months
Roku, Inc. announced findings from its 2022 Annual Holiday Consumer Shopping study in partnership with The Harris Poll. This year’s survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. adults who plan to purchase gifts finds that holiday shoppers plan to shop earlier, increase spend, and turn to TV streaming for entertainment and information.
“The holidays reveal the shopping trends that will shape the year ahead,” said Asaf Davidov, Head of Ad Measurement and Research at Roku. “Brands that message value, ramp up advertising early, and surprise and delight in streaming TV are set to take the share this season.”
The 2022 survey reveals:
Spending Is Set to Increase Amid Inflation
This holiday season, shoppers plan to spend an average of $993 on holiday gifts, a 6% increase from 2021 ($938). Streamers plan to spend 18% more than non-streamers ($1011 vs. $855, respectively), highlighting the need for marketers to get in front of this critical group.
Consumers Are Shopping Earlier and Saving Ahead for Inflation
More than half of holiday shoppers (56%) either started or will start saving earlier this year to prepare for the holiday season, including 70% of Millennials. One in four (25%) say they have already begun their holiday shopping, a greater percentage than in 2021 (21%), 2020 (21%), and 2019 (22%).
TV Streaming Widens Gap Over Traditional TV
TV streaming, in terms of time spent streaming and subscription numbers, is at its highest for holiday shoppers since this survey began. Holiday shoppers now report spending an average of 10.7 hours per week watching streaming TV (10.5 in 2021; 9.5 in 2020; 8.0 in 2019; and 4.7 in 2018) and nearly 9 in 10 (89%) have streamed in the past three months (86% in 2021 and 85% in 2020). Among Gen Z holiday shoppers, 98% have streamed in the past three months. Additionally, among those holiday shoppers who subscribe to a streaming service, 21% subscribe to more than four (up from 13% in 2021; 8% in 2020; and 2% in 2019).
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TV Streaming Ads Drive Product Research and Purchase
As consumers spend more time streaming TV, ads are increasingly influencing brand research and may increase purchases from the TV screen. Holiday shoppers are more likely this year to have looked up brand or product reviews on a search engine after seeing a brand or product advertised on a streaming service or device (39% in 2022 vs. 32% in 2021). Nearly 1 in 3 holiday shoppers (29%) have engaged with an interactive ad experience while streaming a TV show or other video content.
“Now in our fifth year of conducting this research, we see that holiday shoppers are not only spending more time streaming content, but also looking up brand or product reviews after seeing an ad at record rates. This offers brands the opportunity to differentiate and engage with their audiences in ways that simply don’t exist on traditional TV,” said Connie Xu, Director of Brand Strategy at The Harris Poll.