• Report: Streaming Viewers Lead in Holiday Purchase Plans

    People who stream video to their connected TVs say they plan to spend hundreds of dollars more per person this holiday season vs. those that don’t stream, according to the new Consumer Holiday Shopping Report from Roku and The Harris Poll which surveyed approximately 2,000 American adults.

    Streamers plan to spend $921 compared with non-streamers who say they plan to spend $673. Overall, 1 in 4 respondents said they plan to spend more this holiday season and 47% plan to spend the same.

    79% of streamers said they will do most of their holiday shopping online vs. 55% of non-streamers saying they’ll do so. The primary benefits of online shopping were free/cheap shipping (55%), fast shipping (47%) and tangible discounts and coupons (42%).

    The streaming group is poised to grow as the report also found that a majority of respondents said they now spend more time streaming than they do watching pay-TV. Respondents said their average streaming hours increased by 19% vs. last year, while their pay-TV viewing declined by 13%.

    47% of streamers said they subscribe to 3 or more streaming services, with 60% of millennials saying they do so. Overall the report found that 85% of Americans now stream, including 98% of Gen Z and 96% of millennials.

    43% of respondents also said seeing an ad on a streaming service caused them to pause the content and shop online for the product they saw advertised. Two-thirds  of millennials said they have done so. The report cited a recent Roku/IPG/Magna study finding that almost a third of consumers would act on an ad that gave immediate value like access to sponsored streaming content.

    All of this indicates that when people are viewing streaming content via connected TV, advertisers have the opportunity to evolve their goals from strictly upper funnel branding to also include lower funnel action.

    The full report can be accessed here.