Movie mad Brits get into festive mood, eBay Advertising research

Monday marks the beginning of Christmas shopping season, according to research by eBay Advertising.

Searches for “Christmas” in the DVD, Films and TV category on ebay.co.uk shot up by 63% during the second week of August last year, compared to the week before. This appears to be starting earlier each year, with this initial surge having taken place in August’s third week in 2017 and fourth week in 2016.

“Consumers are thinking about Christmas earlier and earlier each year, and the beloved festive film is a perfect indicator of when this merry mindset begins. Shopping might not be top of the agenda at this stage, but marketers can reap significant reward if they maximise this time to inspire consumers,” says Mike Klinkhammer, Director of Advertising Sales EU, eBay.

He adds: “We’re seeing what’s almost a 70-day window for shoppers looking at Christmas items, but each category has varying starts, finishes and peak weeks. With that in mind, a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing during this time will ultimately be ineffective. Marketers need to tailor their approach according to consumer behaviour, whether that’s kicking things off early to cater for summer searches or running advertising campaigns for longer than usual to target last minute shoppers.”

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