GSTV Survey: Holiday Shoppers Make More Unplanned Purchases
GSTV’s Consumer Pulse survey found US consumers expect more holiday driving and errands, with many making unplanned purchases at convenience stores and other stops along their routes.
US consumers expect to spend more time driving and running errands during the holiday shopping season, with many making unplanned purchases along the way, according to GSTV’s Consumer Pulse survey. The research, conducted by MFour among GSTV viewers in August 2026, found that 69% of respondents run more errands than usual during the holidays and 61% report increased driving.
Thanksgiving week stands out as especially busy. 55% of respondents expect additional trips that week, primarily for grocery shopping (52%) and holiday or Black Friday purchases (48%). The survey suggests that many purchasing decisions are made after shoppers leave home: 69% reported buying an unplanned item during their most recent errand trip, and 78% said they add stops when a retailer is conveniently located along their route.
Convenience stores capture a share of that activity. 77% of GSTV viewers said they regularly make purchases at convenience stores while running errands. Cold beverages were the most common recent purchase, cited by 49% of respondents, followed by snacks (36%), fountain or frozen drinks (28%) and lottery products (22%).
Impulse buying is common in those visits. 52% reported adding at least one unplanned item during a convenience-store stop, and half of those shoppers said the purchase came from simply seeing something they wanted. GSTV, which operates a video advertising network at fuel stations, reports running across more than 29,000 US locations and reaching 115 million unique adults monthly.