The holidays season contains some of the biggest and best online shopping days of the year. As the brains behind your company’s AdWords account, understanding retail consumer behavior, during the holidays, is the edge you need to maximize this year’s campaign performance. We put together 11 holiday shopping statistics that are key to building a successful AdWords campaign for the holiday season.

General Retail Stats

• 96% of Americans shop online.
  With an overwhelming amount of online shoppers, there are countless opportunities to capitalize on during the holiday season. Let your creative juices flow and use the holidays to showcase your products in new ways to entice your audience.
• Retailers spent 56% of their ad spend on Google Shopping last year.
  Google Shopping gives advertisers access to a huge audience across the entire Google search engine— yes, that includes YouTube. Retailers know the value in showcasing products on Shopping, and with over half of their ad spend going towards Shopping, well-prepared campaigns are a must, to win the holiday shopping battle.  
  
  
• Non-store holiday sales (e-commerce) grew by 12.6%.
  Each year, more and more people are turning to the Internet to meet their shopping needs. Is your website ready to handle the continued growth of online sales? Prior to the holidays, be sure your products are displayed correctly on your site, items are fully in stock, and shipping dates are accurately labeled.
  
  
• Foot traffic to physical store locations has decreased 57%.
  Physical store locations have a new role in retail. Rather than ending the sales journey with an in-store purchase, brick and mortar stores are another stop along the path to purchase. Product research and price comparing are an integral part of the shopping experience. Dress up your Product Listing Ads (PLAs) with detailed descriptions to best reach your audience during their research prior to purchasing.
  

Mobile Stats

• 65% of consumers use smartphones to start their shopping journeys.
  Again, the Web plays a huge role in shopping, from start to finish. With the Internet at our fingertips, the average journey to a purchase results in action across multiple devices. Optimize your campaigns and product pages for mobile to avoid missing out on a huge percentage of shoppers.  
  
  
• Mobile plas converted at a rate of 1.92% while site-wide mobile conversion rates reached 1.62%.
  Mobile Search has been growing consistently for over 10 years, and shows no signs of slowing down. Segment your Shopping campaigns by device, look for patterns in performance, and make adjustments to strengthen your overall campaign performance.   

Shopping Behaviors

• 25% of shoppers said they started holiday shopping before Halloween.
  The ease and accessibility of the Internet has blurred the line of when holiday shopping officially begins. Prepare for the eager beavers and get your Shopping campaigns ready to launch before the traditional holiday shopping season. Look back at your data after the holidays to analyze points of high traffic volume. Use your data to plan ahead and formulate a strategy for next holiday season.
  
  
• 93% of shoppers take action for free shipping.
  How do you set your business apart from your competitors during the holidays? Free shipping is a great promotion to offer potential customers that is proven to generate results. Try including a free shipping promotion into your holiday strategy to see how it performs for your business.  

Retail Holidays

• The days from black Friday through Christmas pull in 50-100% more revenue compared to shopping days throughout the rest of the year.
  It’s safe to say, the holidays provide retail businesses some of the best growth opportunities of the year. To provide your business with the best results, make sure you’re tracking conversions and revenue to monitor performance during and after the holidays. Tracking data allows you to pinpoint areas in your account that perform well, to then strengthen your future holiday strategy.
  
  
• The average shopper spends around $400 on Black Friday.
  Although Black Friday is a huge retail holiday, it’s easy to miss if not planned for accordingly. Set up Black Friday promotions and campaigns in advance to get the best results during a time of high spend.