Understanding Holiday Shopping Behaviors to Improve the Cross-Channel Experience

Approach

I led a multi-method research initiative designed to uncover how customers shop for holiday gifts across channels. The studies focused on identifying key decision-making behaviors, evaluating online feature usage, and uncovering opportunities to align the digital and in-store shopping experience more effectively.

The approach included three studies:

1. Holiday Gift Shopping Interviews
In-depth interviews with panel members, followed by observational usability testing across competitive retailers’ online gift sections.

2. Cross-Channel Ethnography
Participants completed online “pre-shopping” journals, then visited the store with a researcher to locate and attempt to purchase their intended gift items.

3. Online Shopping Intercept Survey
Over 7,000 jcp.com visitors shared their holiday gift shopping experiences via an on-site survey, providing broad behavioral insights and sentiment about digital features.

This triangulated methodology helped to build a rich picture of customer needs, expectations, and behaviors at each phase of the holiday shopping journey.

Output

The research delivered actionable insights to guide the client’s future holiday planning, focused on both tactical site improvements and strategic marketing decisions:

Online Experience Enhancements

• Recommendations to de-emphasize custom-built gift zones in favor of year-round reusable features (e.g., filtering by price, improving image quality, and showcasing top-rated products).
• Suggested elevating customer reviews and product ratings for gift-related items to increase buyer confidence, especially when shopping for others.

Cross-Channel Shopping Improvements

• Identified need to improve visibility of store inventory status and enable better “print and bring” workflows for customers researching online and buying in-store.
• Highlighted opportunity to market high-performing categories that were strong both online and in-store, including jewelry, apparel, and home goods.

Customer Behavior Insights

• Reinforced that holiday shopping behaviors mirrored year-round patterns, suggesting better ROI by optimizing core features rather than building one-off experiences.
• Surfaced strong desire for inspirational content and coordinated gift ideas, but customers preferred familiar site structures and templates when browsing.
• Identified the need for store associates to be noticeable among shoppers (e.g., apron), as well as armed with knowledge of online and in-store inventory and options.