Brands are right to cash in on festive fever in the run up to Christmas, but new insights from eBay Advertising UK reveal an overlooked opportunity for advertisers to engage with time-rich consumers in the often-neglected ‘Chrimbo limbo’ period between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Daily searches on ebay.co.uk climbed 62% in the three days following 25th December last year and remained consistently high for the final days of 2018 – highlighting an additional retail moment for brands to add to their (post-advent) calendars.
According to eBay data, shoppers left disappointed by their package of presents come out in force as they switch to selfish mode and hunt down gifts for themselves that they didn’t receive. In 2018, selfish shopping kicked off on Christmas Day itself, with daily searches on ebay.co.uk for ‘Xbox’ jumping 71% overnight and rising a further 31% on Boxing day. Likewise, searches for ‘iPhone’ and ‘Mulberry Handbag’ surged 70% and 85% respectively on 25th December and rose a further 22% and 33% the following day.
The data also reveals a cohort of ‘left it too late’ shoppers, who are still searching for gifts after Santa has been and gone – whether that’s down to disorganisation or simply taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales. In 2018, searches for ‘Christmas’ on ebay.co.uk shot up by almost half (47%) in the three days after Christmas, compared to the three days before. Women are the primary culprit during this time, accounting for a 63% rise in searches for the keyword compared to a 26% increase in searches made by men.
Mike Klinkhammer, Director of Advertising Sales EU at eBay commented: “As they relax at home in the days between Christmas and New Year, Brits are truly in the shopping mood – whether they search for great gifts for themselves, their friends and family, or simply browse for purchases for the New Year. But, while this is a brilliant opportunity for brands to engage with time-rich consumers, they need to be really strategic. Armed with smart behavioural insights, brands can better understand the fluctuations in shopping interests and motivations throughout December – and work out how to reach consumers with the most relevant message when it counts.”
Pauline Robson, Managing Partner at MediaCom added: “As these new insights demonstrate, the week after Christmas is an important additional retail ‘moment’ for marketers to focus on. While brands battle for consumer attention in the busy build up to Christmas, there’s a good argument to be made to stagger spend throughout December and hold back some budget for the post-Christmas period.”