Study Reveals Expected Spike in Counterfeits this Holiday Shopping Season

New research of 2,000 U.S. shoppers unveils insights into online shopping behavior for the holiday season

• 72% plan on shopping at online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay
• 56% have purchased a fake item online during previous holiday seasons
• 40% say the brand should be responsible for removing fakes from online channels 

Red Points, the fastest-growing brand protection company, announced the results from their recent national survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, Holiday eCommerce Guide, How Counterfeiting Changes During the Holiday Season. This new market research examines online holiday shopping behavior and dives into consumer spending expectations, shopping choices, consumers mistakenly buying fake products, and identifies action items for brands on how to prepare for scammers through the entire holiday season.

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The market research reveals that 58% of U.S. consumers will spend more this year (on average $265 more) for online holiday shopping than they did in 2020. Additionally, online shoppers (70%) anticipate spending the most on Christmas, dethroning Black Friday as the most popular shopping event of the year.

According to the report, with a larger pool of online shoppers to prey on, scammers have even more reasons to take advantage of online shoppers and fool them into believing their discounts on fake items are part of legitimate sellers’ sale events. In fact, 56% of U.S. consumers acknowledge having been victims of purchasing a fake or counterfeit item online during previous holiday shopping seasons. It takes only minutes for a scammer to set up an illegitimate site, but the ramifications can be long-lasting for the brand they steal from.

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“We expect businesses with ecommerce presence to continue to drive revenue over the holidays. Unfortunately, the current conditions have also made it easy for scammers to capitalize on the 2021 holiday shopping season,” said Daniel Shapiro, Vice President of Brand Relationships for Red Points. “With the current supply chain disruptions caused by COVID, there is a risk that many companies will not be able to meet the demand for the holiday season. This means more shoppers may look outside legitimate sellers when shopping online causing them to fall prey to counterfeiters.”

Additional Key Findings:

• 45% of shoppers plan to start their holiday shopping before September ends and 40% before Thanksgiving
• 60% of shoppers said brand reputation is more important than price
• 70% say Christmas is the top holiday event that they will spend the most money on for online shopping compared to Black Friday (64%) and Cyber Monday (47%)
• U.S. consumers reveal the top three products they plan to buy this holiday season:
• Clothing and accessories: 65%
• Electronics: 46%
• Sporting goods and apparel: 35%
• 72% of U.S. consumers plan to do their online shopping in a marketplace like Google, Amazon, eBay, etc.
• 56% of U.S. consumers have purchased a fake or counterfeit item online during the holiday shopping season
• Of those who bought a fake or counterfeit item online, 35% say they bought a fake item from social media and 25% say they bought a fake item from a marketplace
• 40% say the brand should be primarily responsible for removing fake items from online channels compared to 32% that say the platform and 22% that say law enforcement

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