Understanding Australia’s Christmas Shoppers With InMobi

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” sang Andy Williams way back in 1963 about the Christmas period. For marketers, the holiday purchasing season can be a wonderful time — but only if they get their promotions, targeting, messaging, and advertising right. Without the right mix of all four, what should be a bumper shopping season for companies can fall completely flat.

Fortunately, mobile marketing experts – InMobi – have pulled together a 2022 Holiday Shopping Guide to give marketers and advertisers an in-depth playbook to try and get as many consumers down the funnel as possible before 12 December — the cut-off date for parcels being sent in time for the big day.

To get an understanding of how Australians’ are planning to shop, scrimp, and splurge this year, the InMobi team surveyed 500 shoppers and targeted and weighted the results to be representative of Australia’s smartphone population.

Christmas Shopping — In This Economy?

Despite reports of doom and gloom about the Australian economy, InMobi’s research found that Aussie shoppers are “cautiously optimistic” about the holiday season.

Just over a quarter of Australians intend to increase their spending this season, compared to last year. However, 43 per cent intend to spend the same amount as last year and just under a third are expecting to spend less.

“People are thinking about their bigger investments such as mortgages and repayments” said Richard O’Sullivan, InMobi’s VP and general manager for Australia and New Zealand.

“As a result, while consumers will make exceptions for Christmas gifts, they will be looking at the headwinds and considering how much they spend on retail. That doesn’t mean people will spend less, instead they might look for more value by buying similar products or less expensive products. This will be a big driver for sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.”

InMobi found that, sadly, incomes had declined for 32 per cent of Australians since the pandemic and, as a result, they are reducing their holiday spending. Nearly half of those surveyed said they were planning to save more and a quarter were going to switch to less expensive brands.

While these statistics might not seem like encouraging reading for marketers initially, savvy advertisers can use a variety of strategies to ensure that shoppers opt for their brand or retailer.

“The key thing with these sales periods is to ensure you’re attracting price-sensitive customers to try your products and experience the better quality you offer — rather than reaching existing customers who have managed to find a deal,” O’Sullivan explained.

“Otherwise you could have a proliferation of people that are going to jump based on price and, if you win based on price, you’re going to lose based on price. The biggest thing here is that you’re not gaining loyalty and you will undercut medium-term revenues for short-term sales.”

However, while there are potential pitfalls for selling to consumers during discounting periods there are two distinct advantages. The first is that 58 per cent of Aussie shoppers plan to buy during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (25 and 28 November, respectively, if you’re wondering).

“There’s an opportunity for people to try things that they haven’t before,” said O’Sullivan.

“Black Friday is known for big-ticket items — generally electronics. It’s an opportunity to pull people away at the last minute.”

The Advantages Of Mobile

InMobi says that Australians have traditionally been more comfortable with shopping in-store than online. However, the pandemic has radically shifted consumer expectations and behaviours.

As a result, most Aussies will shop in a hybrid manner this year, with just as many planning to shop on mobile as in-store. Desktop shopping, meanwhile, will only enjoy a 12 per cent market share.

“When it comes to people buying on mobile, it’s generally going to be a younger, more tech-savvy age range that is comfortable using their credit card on electronic devices,” explained O’Sullivan.

In fact, O’Sullivan explains that in many contexts, shopping on mobile is a far easier experience than either in-store or on desktop.

“There are certain dwell times throughout the day. For example, if you drop your kid off at school or are waiting to pick them up, they can buy something with two or three clicks through Amazon. On some of these apps, if you know what you’re looking for, it’s seamless. Whereas, if you go into a retail store, you’ve got to walk around trying to find what you’re looking for,” he said.

O’Sullivan isn’t alone, either. 64 per cent of consumers say that the quick checkout is their favourite reason to shop online. Fellow customer reviews, 62 per cent, and better loyalty programs, 59 per cent, round out the top three reasons.

However, mobile really comes into its own when it comes to discovery. InMobi says that almost two-thirds of consumers discover products through mobile — double that of the previous year.

In fact, mobile now ranks as the second most influential discovery channel, second only to TV, and 56 per cent of Aussie consumers will use mobile for exploring and researching. By contrast, just 31 per cent of consumers prefer to explore and research the products they’re planning to buy this Christmas in-store.

The behaviour varies across categories though. While 52 per cent of consumers enjoy buying clothes and accessories on mobile, 66 per cent prefer to buy groceries in-store. Similarly, 51 per cent of shoppers prefer to get home appliances in-store. 44 per cent of home décor and furnishings purchases are made in-store, as well. For Black Friday and Cyber Monday, in particular, marketers would do well to note that just 27 per cent of shoppers prefer to buy their gadgets on mobile.

Building An Effective Mobile Holiday Campaign

In InMobi’s full 2022 Holiday Shopping Research report, it identified three broad groups of consumers when it comes to holiday shopping: bargain hunters, category explorers, and brand lovers.

To get the most out of these sales periods, it’s important to be fully informed and aware of the potential opportunities to make sure that your business does not miss out on the chance to reach active buyers.

As InMobi found in its research, this year, 51 per cent of Australians fall into the bargain hunter category. These shoppers haven’t planned their purchases and are waiting on offers to determine what they buy. This presents a valuable opportunity for businesses looking to make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday – there are buyers out there, all you need to do is pique their interest.

Category explorers, meanwhile, represent 28 per cent of shoppers. However, this is a three-and-a-half times increase from last year. These shoppers have decided the categories that they’ll be buying in this year – the most popular being apparel, gadgets, and beauty products – but haven’t picked the products or the brands they’ll be buying.

Finally, the brand lovers account for just over two-fifths of shoppers – again a three-and-a-half times increase from last year. These buyers, unsurprisingly, know what they’re going to be getting and where they’ll be getting it from.

An extremely effective ways to reach these buyers is by using a blended approach. Targeting them in-store, with the classic Black Friday queues, will reach some. However, to ensure that you gain as much exposure as possible, it’s important to target consumers on mobile.

InMobi’s market-leading advertising solutions are among the impactful avenues to reach these buyers. InMobi Pulse, for example, can help you understand who your audience is and how they’re planning to shop. InMobi Audiences and InMobi Exchange can help you identify the apps your audience uses the most and how you can engage them, respectively.

The company’s range of tools can help you reach buyers wherever they are. You can drive downloads for your app, or you can remarket to existing users. Marketers will also be able to use InMobi’s tools to drive in-store traffic with full attribution. InMobi can even offer shoppable media solutions to help these buyers discover products and deals.

For here, you can start building your strategy, being mindful of how likely they will be to convert on mobile – rather than just using mobile for engagement or discovery – and who will be buying the goods in a household.

“It depends on the product or service that’s being pushed,” explained O’Sullivan.

“From a household targeting perspective, there are a number of methods. Targeting based on BVOD, for example, or based on the mobile phone. Household products that are bought as a household, like CPG and pharma, for example. Even automotive can be targeted at a household level. These all have a joint decision or joint participation in the product, so people within the household will have an opinion on the product.”

From there, it’s all about crafting eye-catching creatives to help capture the attention of different consumers in different environments. With that in-depth knowledge of your potential consumers and the channels that are most effective from InMobi, your brand or clients will be far more likely to have a happy holiday season.