Holiday Shopping Comes Early This Year
The Flexibility of Audio Offers Brands a Much Needed Advantage this Holiday Season
This year鈥檚 holiday shopping season is proving to be one like no other.
From a shopper鈥檚 point of view, the message has been crystal clear: holiday gifts might be hard to find. Make your list and shop early. For advertisers, the challenges are slightly more complex. With global shipping delays, critical product shortages, and rising worldwide inflation, retailers are bracing for a holiday season with more moving parts than a classic Tinkertoys set.
Amid these once-in-a-generation shifts causing companies like The Home Depot, Costco, and Walmart to charter ships to ensure their products reach store shelves, there are two silver linings advertisers are clinging to: Shopper Demand and Nimble Advertising Channels.
Shopper Demand is Soaring
and have a pent-up desire to spend it. Out of every ten American adults, nine say they鈥檙e 鈥渞eady to go鈥 on returning to normal activities like shopping.1 Consumers plan to spend almost $1,000 on gifts and other holiday items this year, roughly on par with last year.2
And we鈥檙e ready to shop earlier than ever. Half (49%) of customers say they started buying before November.3 and Target have responded by jump-starting the shopping for family gatherings like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa with in October.
Shoppers are expected to spend big in November as fears over delivery delays and huge online discounts push them to bring forward their Christmas shopping.

To top it off, brand loyalty may be taking a hit amidst the supply chain woes, making effective holiday advertising all that more critical. Millennials index at 20% more likely than the typical US adult to switch brands for variety and novelty. With Gen Z, the difference is even greater at 56%.4
For brands and retailers, this holiday season will be tricky. To meet the roaring consumer demand and compete for share of mind and wallet, they will need a marketing partner that鈥檚 nimble, like Audio.
Audio Is Flexible
Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e advertising a holiday promotion for a kid鈥檚 bicycle. But then you sell out early and can鈥檛 get more in stock鈥攗ntil next year. You鈥檒l need the ability to adjust on the fly. With Radio, it鈥檚 easy to change out copy and creative. And Audio has lower production costs compared to video.
Partners like 不良研究所 are primed and ready for retailers鈥 need for flexibility this year. In-house voice talent and quick turnaround ad creative testing services give retailers the assurance they need that their audio campaigns will hit the right note with key shopper audiences throughout the holiday season.
Did we mention that Audio boasts the biggest audience? Among U.S. adults, 91% listen to Audio (including Radio, streaming Audio, and podcasts). That鈥檚 compared to 86% who watch television (broadcast or cable), 76% who use social networks, and 60% who use video streaming.
The net net? During this holiday season full of challenges, turn to a reliable, agile partner: Audio.
Want to talk more about reaching your target audience?
1 Custom Nielsen study conducted April 2020, May 2020, June 2020, October 2020, March 2021 & June 2021 via an online survey among P18+
2 Source: National Retail Federation,
3 Source: National Retail Federation,
4 Source: 2021 GfK MRI Spring Database10