Shopping the Sales: Consumers Cross-Shop More In October

Last month we saw that consumers were actually less willing to shop across retailers to find the best deals in September, despite the economic storm clouds that should presumably have them searching for the best possible deal. But other data we’ve reported since then suggest that consumers had good reasons for cross-shopping less, the most important being a surge in offers from retailers. After all, if a consumer’s favorite retailer is inundating them with offers, no need to look elsewhere.

In October, though, retailers cut back significantly on the number of offers they extended, and found a good balance with the reduced level of consumer demand. How will the consumer respond? Not surprisingly, with fewer offers per retailer, consumers had an incentive to look further afield, with 15.5% cross-shopping the retailer circulars that ShopLocal hosts in October. That compares to 13.2% in September, and is the highest level in 2008 since January’s post-holiday sales.

Consumer cross-shopping is a complex behavior, influenced by the number and quality of offers made by the retailers, by the economy, and of course by holiday seasonality. We can predict that cross-shopping will increase significantly and probably peak in November, due to holiday shopping, but there’s no telling how high it will go. We will find out at the end of the month.