Syndigo, a leading SaaS commerce data management provider, has officially published results from its holiday shopper survey report, “Unwrapped 2024: Product Content Performance in Peak Holiday Periods, which focuses on gauging customer purchasing behavior during the height of holiday shopping season.
Going by the available details, the survey took into account responses from more than 1,500 Black Friday/Cyber Monday week shoppers, who all revealed that high-quality, readily available, and consistent product messaging was key in driving both planned and spontaneous purchase decisions. More on the same would reveal how the survey was conducted by YouGov immediately after Cyber Monday and asked holiday shoppers about their product experiences from November 25 through December 2.
Talk about the given report on a slightly deeper level, we begin from more than half the shoppers finding discrepancies in product descriptions. You see, an estimated 57% of shoppers surveyed during Black Friday/Cyber Monday week encountered situations where a product appeared differently in promotions, advertisements, or marketing materials, in comparison to what they saw in-store or online. These discrepancies, like you can guess, would on to cause severe confusion and uncertainty, eventually deterring shoppers from making purchases.
Next up, the survey discovered that product images actually rule the holiday season. Here, over 49% of respondents said they prefer basic product images. Beyond that, buyers were found to look for enhanced content, including graphics and photography displaying a product’s use (25%), videos highlighting product features (22%), and 360-degree views (21%) when researching holiday purchases.
“Brands and retailers are under pressure to address multiple customer experience demands by savvy shoppers, especially throughout the holiday season,” said Benny Blum, SVP of Product at Syndigo. “Keys to success include Enhanced Content experiences that help shoppers get to know product features and differentiators, and a strong content syndication network for consistent product information and experiences across channels to build buyer trust and win sales.”
Moving on, Syndigo’s report also found that well over 60% of the surveyed shoppers were “Very” and “Somewhat” influenced by recommendations and reviews from other shoppers. Hence, given the massive impact word of mouth can have on a business, brands are now increasing their adoption of automated digital shelf analytics to monitor scores, comments, and concerns at scale, thus facilitating a quicker response and resolution.
Another detail uncovered by the exercise in question is the growing prevalence of green technologies. In essence, ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) information and claims have also become a major determinant for wider public when conducting their holiday shopping. We get to say so because the survey found more than one third (39%) respondents indicating that such claims influenced their decision as whether or not to purchase a product. To accommodate that shift in the consumer’s mindset, more and more companies are now turning towards Master Data Management (MDM) solutions to track products through the supply chain, meaning they can accurately share “green” information with consumers at the shelf.
Among other things, we ought to mention how the survey was conducted using an online interview, administered to members of the YouGov Plc panel. The process included inviting respondents, through an email, to take part in the survey. Once a panel member would click the provided link, they were sent to the survey that they are most required for, according to the sample definition and quotas. As for the responding sample, it is then weighted to the profile of sample definition to provide a representative reporting sample. The profile is normally derived from census data, or if that is not available, from industry accepted data.
Founded in 1979, Syndigo’s rise up the ranks stems from delivering data mastery and exceptional customer experiences across departments, organizations, and commerce platforms. The company, at present, boasts the largest integrated network for content distribution. Thanks to that very fact, it can prove useful regardless of whether an enterprise needs to achieve a “single source of data truth” inside the organization or distribute it to an external network for faster commerce. Syndigo’s excellence can also be understood once you consider that it currently serves more than 14,000 enterprises worldwide.