Q01
Message
All templatesMarket Research
Holiday Shopping Plans and Budget Survey
Tracks holiday shopping intent for this season: spending vs last year, timing of purchases, channels used, gift categories, and how shoppers use AI tools or social media to find gifts. Built for retail and marketing teams planning Q4 campaigns, with an AI follow-up that uncovers the real reason behind budget changes.
Sample questions
A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.
14 questions · ~7 min
Q02
Opinion ScaleRequired
Compared to last year, how much do you plan to spend on holiday shopping this season?
Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Much lessMax:Much more
Q03
Number
Roughly how much total do you expect to spend on gifts and holiday items this season (in your local currency)?
Q04
Multiple Choice
What's the main reason your holiday budget is changing this year, if at all?
- Prices/inflation are higher
- My income changed
- I have more/fewer people to buy for
- I'm being more deliberate about spending
- No real change in my budget
- Other
Q05
Multiple ChoiceRequired
When do you typically start your holiday shopping?
- Before November (early bird)
- Early-to-mid November
- Around Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday
- Early-to-mid December
- Last minute (final week before the holiday)
Q06
Multiple ChoiceRequired
Which channels do you plan to use for holiday shopping this season?
- Large online marketplaces (e.g., Amazon)
- Brand or retailer websites directly
- In-store at large retailers
- In-store at small/local businesses
- Social media shopping (e.g., Instagram, TikTok Shop)
- Secondhand/resale marketplaces
- Other
Q07
Point AllocationRequired
Thinking about your total holiday gift budget, how would you split it across these categories? (Should add up to 100.)
- Toys & kids' items
- Electronics & tech
- Clothing & accessories
- Home & kitchen
- Experiences (travel, tickets, subscriptions)
- Gift cards
Allocate 100 points
Q08
Multiple ChoiceRequired
In the last 12 months, have you used any of the following to help find or choose gifts?
- AI chatbots or assistants (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini)
- Social media inspiration (posts, influencers, reels)
- Retailer recommendation tools/quizzes
- Friends/family suggestions or wish lists
- None of these
Q09
Opinion ScaleRequired
How confident are you that you'll find the 'right' gifts this season without overspending?
Scale: 0 – 10
Min:Not confident at allMax:Extremely confident
Q10
AI Interview
Dig into how this person is actually deciding what to buy and for whom this season, especially if they mentioned AI tools, social media, or a budget change earlier. Ask them to walk through a specific recent example of finding or picking a gift: what triggered it, what sources they trusted or ignored, and where they got stuck or second-guessed themselves. If their confidence score was low, probe what would need to be true for them to feel more confident.
Q11
Multiple Choice
Which best describes your household this holiday season?
- Buying mainly for immediate family
- Buying for a wide extended family/friend group
- Buying mostly for myself/household items
- Not planning to buy many gifts this year
- Prefer not to say
Q12
Multiple Choice
Which age range best describes you?
- 18-24
- 25-34
- 35-44
- 45-54
- 55-64
- 65+
- Prefer not to say
Q13
Multiple Choice
Which best describes your total household income?
- Under $30,000
- $30,000-$59,999
- $60,000-$99,999
- $100,000-$149,999
- $150,000+
- Prefer not to say
Q14
Message
Thank you for sharing your holiday shopping plans! Your responses will help shape promotions, timing, and gift recommendations designed around how people actually shop this season.
What’s included
AI follow-ups
Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.
Attention checks
Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.
AI-drafted copy
Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.
Auto report
Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.
How it compares
We reviewed the closest templates from other survey tools. Here’s what they do well — and where this template goes further.
Why this template
- Goes beyond a static budget question with an rating-scale + numeric pair (spend vs. last year, then actual dollar estimate) plus a dedicated multiple-choice on WHY the budget is changing, which the AI follow-up interview then digs into for the real underlying reason.
- Maps the full holiday shopping journey specific to this season — when shopping starts, which channels are used, and a point-allocation split of the total gift budget across categories.
- Captures how shoppers actually use AI tools and social media to find gifts in the last 12 months, directly useful for Q4 marketing and channel-mix planning.
- Closes with a confidence rating-scale and standard demographics (household, age, income) so retail/marketing teams can segment budget-change reasons and channel use by audience.
QuestionPro
Demographic and Retail Shopping Survey TemplateA fielding-ready static template pairing demographic questions with general retail shopping behavior — useful for broad retail segmentation but not built around the holiday season specifically. It covers shopping habits and demographics but doesn't probe timing, gift categories, or AI/social media discovery the way a holiday-focused instrument would.
What it does well
- Established survey platform with ready-to-use retail template
- Combines demographic segmentation with shopping behavior questions in one instrument
- Likely quick to customize and deploy for general retail research
Where it falls short
- Static question list with no adaptive AI follow-up to uncover the 'why' behind budget or behavior changes
- No voice AI interview or guided screen-share task option
- Not holiday-specific — no coverage of gift categories, seasonal timing, or AI/social tool usage for gift discovery
Frequently asked questions
What questions are in the “Holiday Shopping Plans and Budget Survey” template?
The template includes 14 ready-to-use questions, starting with: “Hi! We're getting ready for the holidays and want to understand your shopping plans this season — your spending, timing,…” · “Compared to last year, how much do you plan to spend on holiday shopping this season?” · “Roughly how much total do you expect to spend on gifts and holiday items this season (in your local currency)?”. The full set is previewed above, and every question is editable.
How long does this survey take to complete?
Respondents typically finish the 14 questions in about 7 minutes.
Can I customize this template?
Yes — every question, answer option, and the ordering is editable before you launch. You can add or remove questions, or ask the AI editor to rework the survey around your research goal.
Is this template free to use?
Yes. Open it in the editor and start customizing right away — no account required to try it, and the free plan covers launching your survey.
Ready to launch?
Open this template in the editor. Every part is yours to change before the first respondent sees it.
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