SmallBusinessNewz

Well, here it is November 17th, and about half of consumers in the U.S. have already made holiday gift purchases. This information is according to the Google/OTX Consumer Pulse Check survey. What does this tell you? If you are not ready for holiday business you best get ready ASAP.

"This is a good sign that shoppers are not simply shopping earlier today to research, but also following through to buy now when they find the right gift with the right price as opposed to later," says Google's Julia Tang on the Google Retail Blog. "We have been checking in with consumers regularly since late August; as you can see from the charts below, their steady increases in holiday purchasing and holiday researching throughout the past weeks go hand in hand."

If half of consumers have begun shopping for the holidays already, you have to expect that that number will increase dramatically with each passing day as the holidays creep their way toward us in our calendars.

Note that 63% have started researching holiday gift purchases. That's a big part of the game. Are you managing your brand's online reputation? Word of mouth is a big part of that research. That's something to think about. Get engaged with people on blogs and in social networks if they are talking about you brand. Try to work with those who are being negative, and show gratitude to those who are talking your brand or product up positively.