We’ve all said it. You walk into a store in October and there’s a Halloween display next to an entire Christmas section with ornaments, wrapping paper, and inflatable yard decorations. “But it’s not even Halloween yet!”

Do Christmas preparations start earlier every year? Yes, and there are good reasons why retailers are moving the holly, jolly holidays up. If you’re working your online business, or thinking of starting an online business, you can learn a lot from these facts:

1 in 5 U.S. consumers start holiday shopping in October.
A study of 2018 shopping details revealed that 22% of American shoppers started their holiday gift-buying in October and 46% began their holiday present prep in November. If you are hoping to sell products to holiday shoppers, you need to start getting your holiday marketing or promotion plan in place immediately! Those proactive shoppers are the ones you want to bring to your store, because they’re looking to spend money now and throughout the season.

A majority of shoppers are spending money online via their smartphones.
Having a mobile-optimized webstore is not just a good idea, it’s essential in 2019. Shoppers are increasingly more confident buying from stores online and on their phones. Think about it – not everyone sits at a computer every day, but mostly everyone has their mobile phone within reach. This can shorten the time a shopper takes to make a decision; if a good product or deal flashes across their view on Facebook, Instagram, or while browsing the Internet, they can make a split-second decision to buy now (and they do!).

Holiday sales/items really do show up earlier than ever before in stores and on websites.
About 40% of stores and online stores put their holiday promotional plan in effect up to 4 months before Christmas! That means we’re seeing holiday items in store and online in October and sometimes even September. With the trend of shoppers planning and buying gifts earlier every year, it makes sense to grab those go-getting shoppers early so your store can be their choice.

Small businesses stand to make 20-40% of revenue for the year during the holiday shopping season.
The holidays is like the Olympics for small businesses. It takes a lot of focus, preparation, and effort, but these few months leading up to the holidays can yield the most concentrated amount of profit. Just having an online store won’t ensure you’ll attract shoppers and profit, though. Consistently, we’re seeing a direct tie between marketing effort and success with small businesses. If your online store needs to add Search Engine Optimization (SEO), get it going IMMEDIATELY to have a chance at it working for you in time to grab those holiday shoppers!

Shoppers are spending more than ever before, especially online.
With holiday marketing starting earlier along with holiday-themed items appearing in big box stores earlier, it makes sense that shoppers start thinking about the holidays earlier. While shoppers are starting to spend money on holiday gifts in early fall, they are also spending more money than they did last year. Research has shown that shoppers are set to spend about 10% more in 2019 than they did last year on holiday prep and gifts, and they’re also more likely to respond to advertising and marketing found on social media platforms like Facebook. Add that to the growing revenue generated by online stores, and it’s a pretty good recipe to find success selling online.