Exclusive data: Holiday shoppers are looking for a bigger variety of gifts for more people in more places

We know the holidays can be tough, not just for consumers but also for retailers, especially when shoppers demand a wider variety of gifts at more places and for a lot more people.

According to a new Harris Poll/Retail Brew survey, the most popular gift-buying methods for holiday shoppers this year are e-commerce sites (70%) and retailers’ websites (58%), followed by directly shopping from brands (37%), social media (25%), and secondhand marketplaces (17%).

The survey of 2,120 US adults was conducted between December 15 and 17, and 1,718 reported shopping for gifts this holiday season.

Among those shoppers, more than 2 in 5 still needed to shop for all or most of their gifts. The people who procrastinated tended to go for retailers’ websites, directly from brands, and on social media, at 63%, 43%, and 31%, respectively.

Best of both worlds: That doesn’t mean consumers are completely refraining from setting foot in stores. In fact, only 19% of respondents said they were exclusively shopping online, while 8% said they were only shopping in stores.

Most people aren’t playing favorites. For the holidays, 30% of shoppers said they did an equal amount of shopping both online and offline, while 29% primarily purchased items online with a few in-store purchases, and the remaining 15% chose to head to stores first, while making some online purchases.

A bit of everything: Now, you’re probably wondering what exactly customers are searching for so frantically in the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar realms.

Well, we have the answer for that one, too. Clothes and accessories were the top items (cited by 60% of respondents); followed by gift cards (58%); toys (44%); personal care and beauty items (38%); electronics (37%); books, video games, and media (36%): and food and beverages (35%).

A smaller number, however, wanted to give their loved ones the gift of local experiences (15%), while 12% very thoughtfully shelled out $$ on travel experiences, and 8% chose large purchases.

In a perfect world: According to its own consumer survey in October, the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that the average holiday shopper expected to spend $875 during the holiday season, so we asked a bonus question: What would you put the money toward if you had it?