NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland—(October 8, 2020)—Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart and sustainable buildings, today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, released the results of its 2020 Holiday Consumer Survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers. A key finding revealed that nearly half of respondents (43%) have already started or plan to start their holiday shopping as early as October.

Other key findings include:

• 65% of respondents indicated that they are very concerned or concerned about shopping in-store this holiday season.
• 80% of respondents said they would use buy online, ship to home services this holiday shopping season.
• This was followed by in-store shopping (39%) and other fulfillment services like buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) (33%), buy online, curbside pickup (33%).

“Despite concerns about COVID-19, many consumers still plan to shop in-store this holiday season and others will take advantage of services like BOPIS or curbside,” said Kim Melvin, Global Leader of Marketing, Sensormatic Solutions. “For in-store shopping, this requires retailers to provide their customers with a safe and comfortable experience. Real-time occupancy tracking solutions can help by not only ensuring retailers comply with social distancing guidelines, but also optimizing cleaning schedules for high-touch areas and providing a better understanding of staffing needs both inside and outside the store.”

Consumers shop in-store to browse before they buy

When consumers shop in-store, they will be doing so primarily to engage with merchandise before making a purchase. Almost a half (43%) of respondents are shopping in-store to browse for gift ideas and 39% are doing so to see or touch products in-person before buying them. Only 4% of respondents are shopping in-store to get advice from sales associates.

Of those who will be shopping in-store:

• Nearly three quarters (72%) plan on doing so at free standing stores or strip centers.
• Almost half plan to shop at enclosed malls (49%), outlets (49%) and open-air shopping centers (46%).

Additionally, more than one quarter of consumers (27%) said they are most likely to shop in-store on weekdays this holiday season, compared to 16% who plan to shop on the weekends. This confirms the data observed in Sensormatic Solutions annual ShopperTrak list of the top busiest shopper traffic days for the 2020 holiday season.

Apparel and electronics expected to see high demand

Consumers expect to spend most of their holiday shopping budget on clothing/apparel (65%), electronics (51%) and toys, books & other media (44%). When asked a similar question about what categories they shopped for in a July survey, only 30% said apparel and only 20% said electronics. Despite the pandemic, these two categories will continue to make up a large portion of many consumers' holiday shopping list.

To learn how Sensormatic Solutions is supporting the retail industry’s urgent COVID-19 needs this holiday season, click here. For more Sensormatic Solutions’ holiday insights, follow along on Twitter, using #SensormaticHolidays2020.

At Johnson Controls, we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, we drive the outcomes that matter most. We deliver our promise in industries such as healthcare, education, data centers and manufacturing. With a global team of 105,000 experts in more than 150 countries and over 130 years of innovation, we are the power behind our customers’ mission. Our leading portfolio of building technology and solutions includes some of the most trusted names in the industry, such as Tyco^®, York^®, Metasys^®, Ruskin^®, Titus^®, Frick^®, Penn^®, Sabroe^®, Simplex^®, Ansul^® and Grinnell^®. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

Sensormatic Solutions is the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls enabling smart and connected shopper engagement. By combining critical insights into retail inventory, shopper traffic and loss prevention, Sensormatic Solutions powers operational excellence at scale and helps create unique shopping experiences. Our solutions deliver real-time visibility and predictive analytics for accurate decision-making across the enterprise, enabling retailers to confidently move into the future. With more than 1.5 million data collection devices in the retail marketplace, we capture 40 billion shopper visits and track and protect billions of items each year. Our retail portfolio features the premier Sensormatic, ShopperTrak and TrueVUE brands. Please visit Sensormatic Solutions or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and our YouTube channel.

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