A look at changing behaviors around the globe.
Optimism about personal finances, coupled with concerns about supply and time delivery, is setting the stage for many consumers to start their holiday shopping early. Meanwhile, “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) is becoming a preferred method of payment for a considerable proportion of Americans, regardless of income. While people are looking ahead with a sense of optimism, the prospect of continued supply chain issues still looms. People are increasingly interested in large gatherings, searching for festivals near me, in theaters now, and concert tickets.
They’re also looking for help with big life moments, whether they’re searching for a good career path, college online admission form, or calculator for a home loan. Meanwhile, searches for shortage have grown globally by over 100% YoY (petrol shortage, fuel shortage, chip shortage), with implications across many aspects of life. We see increasing demand to do holiday shopping early.
We also see increased demand for autos, with growing searches for cars to buy and the most expensive cars. As businesses celebrate great quarters and look forward to a promising holiday season, they also face challenges like increased costs and labor shortages.
What people are thinking
Optimism about personal finances, coupled with concerns about supply and time delivery, is setting the stage for many consumers to start their holiday shopping early. Meanwhile, “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) is becoming a preferred method of payment for a considerable proportion of Americans, regardless of income.
- In surveyed countries around the world, 66% of people say that they are optimistic about their personal financial well-being.
- Roughly a quarter of holiday shoppers across surveyed countries are worried about online delivery dates and items not arriving on time, and that things they want will be out of stock.
- Across 26 countries, 42% of holiday shoppers say they will start their holiday shopping earlier than they did last year.
- Among US adults who have used a BNPL service in the past 12 months, 44% prefer it over credit cards. While preference is strongest among respondents earning $50–99k annually (46%), it’s also preferred by 34% making $100k or more. (Across incomes, US adults prefer BNPL to credit cards at least some of the time)
What people are searching for
While people are looking ahead with a sense of optimism, the prospect of continued supply chain issues still looms. People are increasingly interested in large gatherings, searching for festivals near me, in theaters now, and concert tickets. They’re also looking for help with big life moments, whether they’re searching for a good career path, college online admission form, or calculator for a home loan. Meanwhile, searches for shortage have grown globally by over 100% YoY (petrol shortage, fuel shortage, chip shortage), with implications across many aspects of life. We see increasing demand to do holiday shopping early. We also see increased demand for autos, with growing searches for cars to buy and the most expensive cars.
Help with life moments
- YoY searches for good career path have grown globally by over 300% (is finance a good career path, is energy a good career path, is consumer services a good career path).
- YoY searches for college online admission form have grown globally by over 100% (agra college online admission form 2021, bareilly college online admission form 2021).
- YoY searches for calculator for home loan have grown globally by over 200% (emi calculator for home loan, sbi emi calculator for home loan).
- YoY searches for how much is my house have grown globally by over 60% (how much is my house worth, how much is my house worth uk, how much is my house worth calculator).
Return of large gatherings
- YoY searches for festivals near me have grown globally by over 500% (fall festivals near me, festivals near me this weekend, festivals near me today).
- YoY searches for in theaters now have grown globally by over 500% (movies in theaters now, in theaters now, movies in theaters now 2021, top movies in theaters now 2021, new movies in theaters now).
- YoY searches for concert tickets have grown globally by over 200% (abba voyage concert tickets, cheap concert tickets, sell concert tickets).
- YoY searches for events near me this weekend have grown globally by over 200% (motorcycle events near me this weekend, free events near me this weekend, family events near me this weekend).
Demand for autos
- YoY searches for cars to buy have grown globally by over 400% (best used cars to buy, cars to buy, best cars to buy used).
- YoY searches for most expensive cars have grown globally by over 2,000% (top 10 most expensive cars, most expensive cars in the world, 7 celebrities who owned the world’s most expensive cars 2021).
- YoY searches for car detailing near have grown globally by over 60% (mobile car detailing near me, interior car detailing near me, best car detailing near me, complete car detailing near me).
- YoY searches for car prices have grown globally by over 70% (used car prices, car prices, when will car prices drop, when will used car prices drop, new car prices).
What people are watching
YouTube – the most popular platform for non-TV video content in the US – is most commonly watched on mobile devices. Live-streaming of video game content has increased massively during the pandemic.
- YouTube is number one in the US for non-TV video content, with 65% of short-form video viewers using the popular platform. eMarketer, US, “When it comes to non-TV video content, YouTube takes the crown,” Sep 23, 2021
- Globally, mobile is the preferred way to watch YouTube, accounting for two-thirds of the platform’s video views in the second quarter of this year. CTV is second with 14%. eMarketer, Global, “More than 3 in 5 YouTube video views occur on mobile devices,” Sep 8, 2021
- In Q2 2021, people around the world (excluding China) spent 9.0 billion hours livestreaming video game content. That’s more than 2x the number of hours they watched in Q2 2019. eMarketer, Global, “Global time spent watching livestreaming video game content has nearly doubled since Q1 2020,” Sep 21, 2021
What businesses are doing
As businesses celebrate great quarters and look forward to a promising holiday season, they also face challenges like increased costs and labor shortages. Employee resistance is a key barrier to digital transformation.
- “Great quarter” and similar phrases were mentioned a record 327 times during earnings calls this past August, according to call transcript data compiled by Sentieo. Quartz, Global, “Company execs are celebrating a “great quarter,” Sep 7, 2021
- Deloitte predicts that holiday sales could spike by as much as 9% in 2021 (reaching $1.3 trillion) and that online sales could increase between 11% and 15% over last year. Retail Dive, “Over 30% of consumers plan to spend more on gifts in 2021: Klarna,” Oct 1, 2021
- According to a Salesforce forecast, US retailers will spend $223B more in the second half of 2021 than they did during this time last year (+62%), and will experience a labor shortage of about 350,000 workers as they head into November. CNBC, US, “Salesforce projects retailers will pay $223 billion extra for goods in the second half,” Jul 20, 2021
- As many as 54% of companies rate employee resistance as their number-one barrier to successful digital transformation, while 42% of organizations name a lack of technical knowledge and skills. Venture Beat, US, “Digital transformation spending is up to $700B per year, but results lag,” Sep 26, 2021