Introduction

With the holiday season under way, consumers are turning to social media as one of their preferred sources in the holiday shopping process, alongside advertising circulars, magazines and more. Consumers are using social-media platforms to check out new products, research product information, look for ideas and inspiration for gifts, seek feedback from friends and community, ask questions to corporate customer services and share their own holiday experiences. To leverage the festive spending spree, retailers are aggressively pushing their holiday campaigns through social channels to engage, inform and encourage potential customers to buy their products. In this report, we offer insights into the most influential social media channels when it comes to sources of inspiration for holiday shoppers looking to buy gifts. We also discuss the ways in which selected retailers are using social media platforms to extend their reach and drive sales, and compare the relative popularity of these retailers on social media.

Where Are Shoppers Looking for Inspiration To Buy Gifts This Holiday Season?

Although it is popular for research and inspiration, social media will wield less of an influence on shoppers than several competing channels this holiday season, according to survey data from Prosper Insights & Analytics. Findings indicate that online searches, in-store browsing, advertising circulars and even catalogs will be used by more consumers than the single most popular social media platform, Facebook, for gift inspiration in the lead-up to Christmas. Among social media channels, 14.6% of shoppers said they turn to Facebook to find holiday gift ideas and inspiration, followed by Instagram (10.8%) and Pinterest (9%). Note that the chart below is comparing individual social media platforms with alternative channels at an aggregate level. [caption id="attachment_100867" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Base: 7,917 US Internet users aged 18+
Only those who indicated that they plan to spend in the upcoming holiday shopping season answered the survey.
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics[/caption]   A Coresight Research survey conducted in November 2019 found that 61% of US social media users said they use these online platforms as part of the shopping process. Our survey confirmed that social media is more commonly used for discovering products and researching purchases than for buying products. We found that 13% of those who used social media as part of the shopping process often or always post information about their purchases (such as photos) on social media and 51% do this sometimes or occasionally. Only 36% never post about their purchases. We will discuss these and further survey findings in detail in a forthcoming report.

How Are Shoppers Planning To Track Retailers’ Holiday Promotions?

Social media also features in shoppers’ preferences for searching for holiday promotions, although it is a less-popular channel than advertising circulars and emails from retailers, for example. According to the Prosper Insight & Analytics survey, some 14.5% of holiday shoppers stated that they will use Facebook for tracking holiday promotions, followed by Instagram (8.2%) and Twitter (3.6%). [caption id="attachment_100868" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Base: 7,419 US Internet users aged 18+
Only those who indicated that they plan to spend on the upcoming holiday shopping season answered the survey.
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics[/caption]  

New Social Media Tools for the Holiday Season

Social media companies are incorporating new tools and features into their platforms to help brands craft effective holiday campaigns and promote themselves to shoppers. These channels also offer tips to inform marketers of how to use the new features effectively to build immersive and personalized experiences for users. Some of the initiatives taken by social media platforms this holiday season are outlined below: Facebook: Facebook is ramping up its holiday support for retailers with the introduction of new tools to assist businesses with their holiday marketing efforts. Holiday Season Insights tool: Launched in July 2019, this tool features approximately 30 searchable insights from the 2017 and 2018 holiday seasons across 25 markets and is available in 17 languages. The tool provides the option to filter results by market, year and shopping behavior. It showcases a range of trends and incorporates functions to assist marketers in improving their strategic planning for the holiday season. [caption id="attachment_100869" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Holiday Season Insight Tool
Source: Facebook
[/caption]   Customizable story templates: Facebook has released customizable story templates, which make it easier for marketers to create vertical full-screen assets for advertising campaigns. According to Facebook, the custom nature of these stories will lead to better campaign performance as they can be tailored to specific brands and campaigns. These adverts can also be used across Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. Facebook Pay: On November 12, 2019, Facebook rolled out Facebook Pay, a payment system that can operate across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. Facebook Pay supports major credit and debit cards as well as Paypal. It will have a real-time customer support service—with a live-chat feature—based in the US, with plans for more countries to be added in the near future. Facebook Pay is available to US users for in-game purchases, fundraising, event tickets, person-to-person payments on Messenger and purchases from selected pages and businesses on Facebook Marketplace. In-app Checkout for Facebook ads: To make it easier for consumers to shop through the social network, Facebook is testing a new native in-app checkout feature for dynamic ads. This functionality enables users to discover and purchase a product via a dynamic advert without leaving the Facebook app. [caption id="attachment_100870" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Customizable story templates
Source: Facebook[/caption]   Instagram Direct: Facebook introduced new functionalities to Instagram Direct, a private messaging feature on Instagram, to enable brands to manage and streamline communications. These functionalities will enable businesses to:

• add labels such as ‘New Customer’ and ‘VIP’ to contacts to provide more context about each and simplify the planning and orientation of messages;
• search through contacts more quickly;
• use saved replies to streamline responses for common queries and frequently asked questions;
• set up instant automatic replies, which can be set to respond at different times;
• and create custom folders and sort messages into these folders to better manage the response.

Ads Manager tool: Facebook is also testing the capacity for retailers to turn organic Instagram posts with ‘shopping tags’ into paid ads via Facebook’s Ads Manager tool. These organic shopping posts allow brands to tag the items in their post. When a user taps on any of those items, they are taken to a product description page within Instagram where they can proceed to purchase from the retailer’s mobile webpage. [caption id="attachment_100871" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Instagram Direct features
Source: Facebook[/caption]   Twitter: In June 2019, Twitter launched Twitter ArtHouse, a new service that acts as a one-stop solution for businesses to access artists, video editors, influencers and other talented individuals that can enable them to produce better, more meaningful content to drive brand engagement. Twitter ArtHouse covers three main categories of content creation:

• Influencers and artists: Twitter Arthouse helps brands to curate pertinent content creators (influencers and artists) to develop ideas and assets on behalf of brands. Influencers offer brands the ability to tap into built-in fanbases, while artists are photographers, videographers, illustrators, or animators who can provide a unique look for brands’ campaigns.
• Video editing and optimization: Arthouse enables brands to find editors who are well versed in editing video content into shorter, more platform-friendly versions that can catch the eye of users scrolling down their feed.
• Live Brand Studio: Arthouse helps brands to go live, maximize user engagement and drive conversation on Twitter. It enables brands to build new audiences and engage with users through interesting live content.

Pinterest: At the end of November, Pinterest launched a small business shop on its site. Pinterest Shop showcases the profiles and products of 17 small businesses and makes featured items automatically available to buy as shoppable ‘Product Pins’. This feature provides an opportunity for small businesses to promote their brand and connect with audiences in a personalized way that could help drive sales during the holiday season.

Which Retailers Are the Most Popular on Social Media Channels?

Having a high number of followers on social channels raises brand visibility among potential customers, increases brand awareness and boosts leads and sales. We outline the popularity of selected retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Best Buy, JCPenney, Nordstrom, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market) on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as of November 23, 2019. Amazon may be many shoppers’ destination of choice for gift shopping, but across social media platforms, it loses out on the top spot to rivals, as measured by number of followers or fans. This could reflect Amazon’s position as a more functional retailer, primarily of other brands’ products—shoppers may flock to the e-commerce platform when they need to shop, but do not see Amazon as necessary  to engage with. Facebook: Walmart has clocked up a total of 34.3 million fans and 32.8 million followers on Facebook. On any given day, Walmart posts between two and five updates, and most achieve a remarkable number of responses from followers and fans. The majority of posts include photos and videos of products, caption challenges and competitions, prices and promotions, sports chat and information on sustainability initiatives. The company also encourages more user interactions by asking fans to share their Walmart stories, images and videos. Amazon  and Target  also maintain a strong presence on Facebook. [caption id="attachment_100872" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Facebook/Coresight Research[/caption]   Twitter: The ranking of popular retailers is very different on Twitter, where the selected retailers also have far fewer followers than on Facebook. Although Walmart takes the top spot on Facebook, it stands in fourth place on Twitter. Whole Foods Market has 4.4 million followers on Twitter as of November 23, 2019. The company uses its feed primarily as a customer service channel. It responds to over 100 users each day, ranging from complaints to people simply mentioning the fact that they are in a Whole Foods store. The retailer also tweets about recipes, product information, competitions and coupons. With over 3 million followers, Amazon also has a significant presence on Twitter. [caption id="attachment_100873" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Twitter/Coresight Research[/caption]   Instagram: Target—which is the third-most engaged retailer on both Facebook and Twitter—jumps to to the top spot on Instagram, having achieved 4.2 million followers as of November 23, 2019. The company uses Instagram as a creative and playful destination to engage with users and drive sales. Target has partnered with a diverse group of Instagram influencers to extend its reach on the social media platform, including children’s fashion gurus, small family-focused bloggers, plus-sized models and celebrities with a large number of followers. [caption id="attachment_100874" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Instagram/Coresight Research[/caption]  

How Are Retailers Leveraging Social Media this Holiday Season?

The holiday season is one of the most significant periods of the year for retailers to capitalize on increased shopper spending. With gifting being a priority for consumers, retailers are embracing social media platforms to drive product discovery, customer acquisition and loyalty. We discuss the campaigns of four notable retailers: Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target and Walmart. Kohl’s: Kohl’s is leveraging social media to engage with shoppers through a number of initiatives this holiday season.

• Twitter same-day product-delivery activation: Customers can start a social conversation with Kohl’s on Twitter for the chance to win on-demand, same-day delivery during the holiday season, which can be used when purchasing Kohl’s top brands and gifts.
• Pinterest Pincodes: Kohl’s is using Pinterest to provide in-store shoppers with additional gifting ideas and inspiration. Customers can use the Pinterest app’s camera feature to scan Pincodes on Kohl’s “Jammies for Your Families” hangtags and in-store signage to gain access to Pinterest boards with gift ideas.
• Snapchat lenses at holiday pop-up: Kohl’s organized a holiday pop-up in New York City on November 7–10. Snapchat users nationwide were able to experience the event remotely through the use of a Snapchat augmented-reality portal lens. The lens replicated the event space in 3D and enabled users to shop for featured products.
• Kohl’s Cash Snapchat lens: Kohl’s launched a Snapchat lens through which users engage in a football-themed game to fill their digital carts with gifts and Kohl’s Cash.

Macy’s: Macy’s dropped its holiday campaign ‘Santa Girl’ on November 1 across social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The two-minute spot is centered around a young girl (played by Brooklyn Prince) who aspires to be Santa. Macy’s collaborated with creative agency BBDO New York to develop the campaign, which  is less focused on products, prices and promotions than with the campaigns of competing retailers. On December 1, Brooklyn Prince announced a social media challenge through a video post on Macy’s Instagram and Twitter accounts, asking everyone to write a letter to Santa online or in-store at Macy’s and tag their friends to prompt them to do the same. For every letter sent, Macy’s is donating $1 (up to $1 million) to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Target: Target unveiled its holiday marketing campaign #Thinkingofyou on November 1 across social channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A one-minute video highlights Target’s vast array of products through a song. The video features a cast of 125 people appearing in 100 holiday moments such as family dinner, video chats with loved ones, taking photos and admiring a Christmas tree. Target Creative—the retailer’s in-house media team—collaborated with creative agency Mother New York to design the campaign. Alongsidethe main anthem spot, the campaign will also air 15- and 30-second spots that showcase the retailer’s services, such as same-day delivery and drive-up order pickup. [caption id="attachment_100875" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Screenshot of Target’s Page on Facebook
Source: Facebook[/caption]   Walmart: Walmart ushered in the holiday preseason with the launch of its #DealDropDance challenge on social media, through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Chinese short-video platform TikTok. The campaign encouraged customers to show off how upcoming Walmart Black Friday deals made them feel by posting videos of their dance moves. To enter the contest, the customer must record a video of themselves performing to the official Deal Drop Dance song “Water Me” by Lizzo and share it on social media using the hashtags #dealdropdance and #contest. Walmart awarded a $100 gift card to 100 randomly selected winners each day during the contest period. To boost the reach of its campaign, Walmart signed several celebrities such as Terry Crews, Joey Fatone and Rebel Wilson, as well as social media influencers including Aaron Burriss and Heaven & Tianne. The campaign generated more than 9 million views on Facebook and over 2 million views on Instagram by November 27, 2019. The Deal Drop Dance campaign contributed to Walmart’s success in creating a lot of buzz on social media in the run-up to Black Friday this year. According to data analytics provider Thinknum, Walmart hit its highest-ever daily mentions (a count of how often the brand is mentioned in Facebook status updates on a daily basis) of around 802,000 on November 28. Thinknum added that Walmart’s daily mention count on Facebook has nearly doubled since October and is poised to hit its highest levels yet going into the holiday period. [caption id="attachment_100876" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Facebook[/caption]  

Key Insights

This holiday season, major retailers such as Target and Walmart will be supported by their huge presence on social media channels and well-targeted social media campaigns. Meantime, social media platforms are offering retailers new features and tools to drive awareness, engagement and purchase. Facebook continues to hold the strongest influence as holiday shoppers turn to the popular platform to find sources of inspiration for holiday gifts as well as to track retail companies’ holiday sales and promotions.