• by Ray Schultz , 6 hours ago

Consumers spending is wavering based on political events and other factors, according to Q4 Insights: Politics & the Holiday Season, a study by Jungle Scout. 

The Presidential election is causing shoppers to spend 30% more — or 30% less — on the holidays, citizens say. You can infer that consumers whose candidate won will spurge, and those who backed the losing ticket will hole up and not spend.  

Given a Trump victory, his backers will spend 32% more this holiday season, versus 6% for Biden voters.  

But Biden supporters will spend 22% more with a Biden victory. In contrast, 8% of Trump people will increase their holiday spend.  

By deadline, it was clear that Biden was the victor. 

There’s one more variable for email marketers to mull as they plan their holiday campaigns. But how would they determine political preferences, except by geography?

The study also found that 23% will spend less on holiday in the absence of a stimulus check. 

Jungle Scout studied 1,000 consumers. It found that 46% decreased their spending from July through September, while 22% increased it and 32% held steady.   

Moreover, 25% will spend less on holiday than they did in 2019, and 33% will decrease their overall spending until the end of the year.  

But 24% will lay out more on holiday this year, and 41% will spend the same as they did in 2019.  

Holiday began in October for many shoppers, with 33% starting on October 1 and 19% on Prime Day. But 14% say it will start on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and 17% in December. Another 11% don’t know. 

Here’s another takeaway for email marketers crafting their holiday offers: 34% of consumer will shop for deals when buying gifts for others. But 14% will pay full price for luxury gift items. 

Overall, 74% are seeking the product with the lowest price.  

At the same time, 21% plan to will essential items such as groceries and toiletries this season. 

How much will they spend? Here’s what they say:

• Up to $100 — 12%
• Up to $250 — 22%
• Up to $500 — 24% 
• Up to $1,000 — 16%
• Up to $2,500 — 8%
• Up to $5,000 — 5%
• More than $5,000 — 2%
• Other/NA — 11% 

The study also provides these insights: 

48% of consumers now say they would be fine if they never shopped in a physical store again, versus 39% who said so in the first half of the year. 

74% believe that most shopper will happen online in the future. 

70% shopped on Amazon in Amazon in Q3. In contrast, 35% shopped on Walmart.com and 26% on Target.com.