Holiday shopping and search behaviors in moments

Earlier this year, Google introduced the concept of “moments”, real-time, intent-driven, micro-moment searches, therefore giving brands a greater opportunity to reach and influence consumer preferences.

Driven by mobile devices, moments can include using a smartphone to research a purchase decision in a store or a geographic search for a location based on what is nearby. In these moments, consumers are searching for immediate and relevant answers.

Now the concept of moments has seeped into consumer shopping behavior, thus making it an important development for this holiday season.

In a recent AdWords blog post, Google predicts that consumers’ preferences are shifting more towards shopping moments, as opposed to all day shopping marathons.

They note that 54 percent of holiday shoppers plan to use their spare moments spent walking or commuting to shop on their smartphones.

Digital marketers that are able to present relevant messages that answer questions in these moments will be poised for success this holiday shopping season. With that in mind, here are some digital trend predictions for this shopping season:

1. Holiday shopping will be spread out over the season in short bursts.
2. Consumers will use their mobile phones to research and compare purchases while in the store. Google notes 82 percent of smartphone users will consult their phone while in a store.
3. Many shoppers will use their smartphones to pay for holiday purchases while in the store.
4. According to Google search data, mobile shopping searches are 18 percent higher on Sundays than the rest of the week.
5. Consumers will increasingly, turn to YouTube for product videos – such as Unboxing Videos – to help inform their purchase decisions.Adwords even recently partnered with YouTube to create a series of shoppable videos where clickable product ads appear within a review video about a specific product. Shoppers can click to purchase directly from the video.

In conclusion

As shoppers are more influenced by product information they discover in real-time, businesses and brands have the opportunity to optimize the customer experience.

Advertisers that can capitalize on mobile moments by understanding and anticipating consumers’ immediate needs to deliver relevant advertising or content in the moment, are sure to experience much success this holiday season.