An exploratory study of sales promotions for multichannel holiday shopping

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how consumers respond to price promotions in stores and on internet channels during a holiday season. Since holiday shopping has long been considered promotion intensive and multichannel shopping is increasing, it is important to understand whether consumers respond differently to price promotions from these two different channels. The paper aims to examine whether the extent of price promotions that consumers perceive in online and offline channels and their sensitivity to such price promotions influences their holiday spending in each channel. Design/methodology/approach – A public telephone survey was conducted to collect data during the month of December 2006. Using random sampling in Florida, a total of 501 responses were collected. Findings – Overall, the findings support the effectiveness of price promotions during holiday periods. Such awareness of the extensive practice of price promotions at stores can encourage holiday spending offline; additionally, sensitivity to price promotions on the internet can be transferred into increased holiday spending online. Practical implications – The results of this paper extend knowledge of how holiday price promotions affect consumer spending and provide important insights into how retailers should develop price promotion programs that are well tailored to consumer behaviors in different channels. Originality/value – This paper addresses an untapped issue on how price promotions are perceived in multichannel holiday shopping contexts.