Fluent Commerce, the leading provider of a cloud-native distributed Order Management System (OMS), has published new research showing many consumers plan to start their holiday shopping early in 2021. In the U.S., nearly a third (28%) plan to start before November, with more than half before Black Friday. U.K. shoppers are less likely to start as early, but over a fifth (21%) said they plan to start their holiday shopping before November, and 42% before Black Friday.

Looking at consumer spending plans, in the U.S., almost a third of shoppers plan to spend more than they did last holiday season, with 17% saying they will spend much more. Meanwhile in the U.K., 22% plan to spend more. There is also an emerging generation spending gap, with half of U.S. and U.K. consumers who are considered Generation Z — specifically, those between the ages of 18-24 — planning to spend more on their holiday shopping this year versus last year.

Asked about their plans to shop in-store vs online, 17% of U.S. and 11% of U.K. consumers plan to do all of their holiday shopping in-store. In addition, over three-quarters of U.S. consumers and nearly 9 in 10 of U.K. consumers plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping online, with women favouring online more than men.

“For many consumers, October is clearly the new November when it comes to holiday season shopping and they are looking to get organised early and hunt down bargains before the traditional rush in November and December,” said Nicola Kinsella, vice president, global marketing, Fluent Commerce. “As a result, retailers need to ensure their processes and critical technologies are agile enough to meet demand and continue to give consumers the kind of high quality shopping experiences that have become so crucial to omnichannel retail success.”

To download a full copy of the Fluent Commerce eBook, “Top Holiday Shopper Trends 2021: U.S. vs U.K.,” click here.