America Says Stores Decorate For Christmas Too Early – Wait Till After Thanksgiving

If you think stores decorate for Christmas too soon, you’re not alone.

According to a new study (with infographic), 3 out of every 4 Americans don’t want stores to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

According to SOASTA’s 2012 Holiday Readiness Survey of 2,346 American adults thats representative of the entire country:
• 78% of Americans dont want to hear Christmas music in retail stores until after Thanksgiving
• 75% think stores shouldnt put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving
• 75% of Americans think stores should focus on Cyber Monday preparations and have a Cyber Monday website that can handle millions of people shopping for the holidays at once

These statistics are important considering that SOASTA revealed on October 5th that 51% of Americans plan on shopping online due to the bad economy. SOASTA is a web performance and analytics company that helps six out of the top ten retailers make sure their websites are ready for the millions of people who will be using them this year.

As Cyber Monday eclipses Black Friday, American retailers face a new challenge from smartphones and tablets. Do these stores have mobile websites ready for this unique type of shopping traffic? SOASTA’s 2012 Holiday Readiness Survey reveals that a majority of Americans now own Smart Phones and/or Tablets. In fact, a different survey from API company Apigee, revealed that three out of five (57%) mobile app users would consider purchasing their holiday gifts this year on a mobile device.

SOASTA’s survey of 2,346 American adults aged 18 and older conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive discovered that 78% of American adults think stores should not play Christmas music and 75% think stores shouldn’t put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. However, nearly the same percentage of adults (75%) felt stores should have a specific Cyber Monday website that can handle millions of people shopping for the holidays at once while 73% of Americans felt that stores should have a dependable app for smartphones or tablets that can easily handle mobile sales for the holidays. In fact, a majority of Americans (55%) now report owning a smartphone (48%) and/or a tablet (23%) and 16% saying they own a more basic e-reader like an Amazon Kindle or Nook.

“The results of our Holiday Readiness Survey show that Americans think stores shouldnt Deck the Halls until after Thanksgiving,” says Tom Lounibos, SOASTA CEO. “An overwhelming majority of Americans want stores to focus on making sure their websites are ready for Cyber Monday and that their mobile apps are capable of handling the shopping demand. So instead of decorating for the holidays, stores should test their online presence instead, making sure their websites and their mobile apps can handle millions of people from all over the world at the same time.”

SOASTA’s 2012 Holiday Readiness Survey shows that 92% of Americans plan to shop for the holiday season and that more holiday shoppers plan to shop online than at physical brick and mortar stores (75% and 69%, respectively). Heres how it breaks down:
• 75% will shop online
– accessed through their home computer (69%)
– accessed through their work computer (17%)
• 44% through an app or website through their tablet
• 34% through their smartphone
• 19% through mail order catalogue (by calling/placing order via phone or physically mailing an order form)
• 10% through a phone order

The survey results come as SOASTA prepares many of the top online retailers today for the busy holiday season by providing a mobile test automation solution that ensures websites and mobile apps work as planned, while catering to hundreds of thousands of concurrent users. For more information, go to:
http://www.soasta.com

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of SOASTA from September 17, 2012 – September 19, 2012 among 2,346 adults age 18+. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.