Holiday shopping in Singapore: how consumers find what to buy & how early most start their shopping

As the year draws to a close, a procession of festive lights – from Diwali/Deepavali’s diya lamps to Christmas’ sparklingly ornamented trees – illuminate a season of festive celebrations and shopping deals in Singapore.

But how do consumers in Singapore discover what to buy as part of their holiday shopping – and how far in advance do they begin holiday shopping?

How early do consumers in Singapore typically start holiday shopping?

Latest YouGov Surveys research shows that more than a quarter of consumers (28%) say they usually begin shopping for holidays they celebrate 3-4 weeks in advance.

• Around a quarter start holiday shopping closer to the event: 17% do so 1-2 weeks in advance, while 7% do so on the week of the event itself.
• About a seventh begin their festive shopping more than a month in advance: 10% do so 2-3 months before, 3% do so 4-6 months early, while 2% do so more than half a year prior.

Meanwhile, 27% of consumers say they do not engage in holiday shopping around specific celebrations.

How do consumers in Singapore discover what to buy during holiday seasons?

Over two in five (42%) consumers say they use search engines – the most popular source of holiday shopping ideas – to identify products to buy for the festive celebrations.

• Family/friends/colleagues (38%) are the next most popular source, ahead of other web-based sources like online reviews and recommendations and social media platforms (both 37%), as well as retailer websites / apps (35%).
• About one in eight (13%) turn to TV ads, a mainstay of festive campaigns for major brands, as well as printed magazines and newspapers (12%).

Analysing by generation, however, reveals that younger consumers are much more likely to turn to social media platforms and online reviews and recommendations to discover what to buy.

• While 53% of Gen Z and 42% of Millennials say they find holiday shopping ideas on social media, only 34% of Gen X and 22% of Baby Boomers say the same.
• Likewise, online reviews and recommendations are used by 46% of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials, but only 35% of Gen X and 25% of Baby Boomers, as sources of holiday shopping ideas.

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 510 and 2,044 for each market. All surveys were conducted online during September 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

_{Cover photo by Mai Yo}