75% of Shoppers Say They'd Try a New Store. Most Owners Don't Plan to Ask for an Email.

Three out of four shoppers say they are likely to buy from a small business that is new to them. That is a chance at new customers for a small business. Then more than 70% of small businesses don't plan to ask those shoppers to sign up for a loyalty program or an email list.

What the Survey Found — and the Number That Stopped Me

A new Constant Contact survey asked more than 4,000 owners and shoppers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. and New Zealand about the holiday season. The headline result is confidence: 77% of small businesses around the world think they will hit their 2026 holiday revenue targets, and 81% of U.S. owners say the same.

Then comes the part that matters for a business. Three out of four consumers say they are likely to buy from a small business they have never been to before. That is a lot of shoppers who have not picked a favorite store yet.

And more than 70% of those businesses have no plan to ask holiday shoppers to sign up for a loyalty program or an email list. Another 22% have no specific post-holiday follow-up planned. Others are thinking ahead: 39% plan to send follow-up emails once the new year starts, and 34% plan to launch new products in the first quarter.

So the shoppers are coming. Whether anyone writes their name down is a different story.

Why This Holiday Season Is Different

Prices are pinching holiday shoppers, and the survey shows the worry. Rising prices are the top holiday worry for 31% of shoppers and 30% of owners.

But something else is happening underneath that. 20% of consumers plan to spend more with small businesses just to back them — nearly double the 11% who said that in 2024.

They want to buy from you. They just want it to make sense. 53% say a discount or a sale would push them toward a small business over a big retailer, and 44% point to things like easy returns, free shipping and pickup. Another 49% are drawn in by original or unusual gifts, and 43% by the shopping experience itself.

Here is the number I would tape to a sales desk: 53% of small businesses say repeat buyers make up more than a quarter of the customers they see during the holidays. The second sale is not a bonus. For most businesses in the survey, it is more than a quarter of holiday customers.

Which raises an obvious question. If repeat buyers are that valuable, why are most owners not collecting the one thing that brings them back?

The AI Bet Owners Are Already Making

Owners are not sitting still on tools. 68% plan to put AI to work this holiday season, and 53% expect to lean on it more than last year.

The top three uses are drafting marketing content at 34%, creating product imagery at 32%, and forecasting inventory demand at 30.9%.

And customers are not spooked by it. 56% of consumers say they are fine with small businesses using AI for marketing materials.

My read is that these tools save time on ads and photos and make the inventory guess a little sharper. None of that touches the leak — the money still walks out the door with a name you never captured.