Digiday+ Research: 60% of brands, retailers say holiday revenue will increase this year — slightly
This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →
Consumers continue to spend amid rocky economic footing, and brands and retailers are feeling good about how revenue is shaping up heading into the all-important holiday season, according to data from Digiday+ Research.
Despite the current economic climate and perhaps not surprisingly following a record-breaking Thanksgiving shopping weekend, Digiday’s survey of 32 brand and retail professionals found that the majority of respondents expect revenue to increase during the holiday season over last year — albeit only slightly.
According to Digiday’s survey, 60% of brand and retail pros said they expect their 2022 holiday revenue to be higher than their 2021 holiday revenue. Meanwhile, 28% said they expect holiday revenue to be down and 9% said they expect holiday revenue to be about the same this year. This is a clear sign of optimism in a pessimistic economic climate.
Breaking the numbers down further, however, reveals that most of the optimism is not particularly enthusiastic. Slightly more than a third of respondents to Digiday’s survey (38%) said that holiday revenue will be up only slightly this year, coming in at between 1% and 10% higher than last year. Only 6% of brand and retail pros said they expect 2022 holiday revenue to increase between 11% and 30% over 2021, and 16% said they expect holiday revenue to jump by more than 30% this year over last year.
After the 38% of brand and retail pros who said they expect holiday revenue to be up slightly this year, the second-most popular response was those who said they expect holiday revenue will be down slightly — another sign that the optimism brands and retailers are feeling isn’t exactly overwhelming.
Exactly one-quarter of respondents to Digiday’s survey (25%) said they expect 2022 holiday revenue will be between 1% and 10% lower than it was last year. Only 3% said they expect holiday revenue to decrease between 11% and 30% from last year, and, interestingly, no one responded that they think holiday revenue will be down by more than 30% this year compared with last year. So any pessimism that brands and retailers are feeling isn’t exactly overwhelming, either.
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