Google has released a new search guide about holiday shoppers to help marketers understand recent changes in consumer behaviour, with the view to optimising content and SEO strategies in the run-up to Christmas.
The in-depth, 27-page guide includes a myriad of interesting statistics and insights, including the fact that ‘available near me’ searches have soared by 100% year over year.
With England currently in a national lockdown due to the pandemic, the data highlights how search habits and buying behaviour are shifting in preparation for a festive period that will be very different from previous years.
It appears that consumers are focused on picking up products close to home during the next six to eight weeks as there has been a staggering 20,000% spike in searches related to supporting local businesses.
There has also been a 3,000% rise in global ‘curbside pickup’ searches, which would be equivalent to the click-and-collect services in the UK.
As expected, ecommerce will be particularly busy this year as searches for ‘online clothing stores’ have increased by 100%.
More people are also looking for deals as ‘best affordable’ searches have climbed by more than 60% globally during the last year.
The study suggests that marketers should be ready to improve webpages and optimise for local SEO to meet the demands of customers.
This is supported by the fact that 69% of shoppers in the US expect to buy more products online this year.
There is also an opportunity to engage with new customers as 70% of shoppers are open to buying something from a retailer they haven’t interacted with before.
Marketers can do this with the right mix of content, especially as 77% of people are expecting to browse for gift ideas and compare products online in 2020, rather than in-store.
