Survey: Outlook Divided Over Business Profits this Holiday Season

BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a voluntary online survey issued by Endurance International Group (NASDAQ: EIGI), one-in-three (33%) U.S.-based Endurance customers are uncertain about their businesses' profits compared to last year while another 30 percent believe profits will be about the same as last year. Of those customers surveyed, 73 percent currently own a business and 27 percent report owning a small business with 1-50 employees. Endurance provides cloud-based platform solutions to help small and medium-sized businesses succeed online. Endurance, through its family of brands, supports more than 5 million subscribers globally.

As we enter the start of the holiday shopping season, only a combined 7 percent of respondents indicated that Black Friday or Cyber Monday yielded the most profit for their business.

Though 29 percent of surveyed Endurance customers are optimistic when it comes to their business forecasts for 2016, over half (63%) find it stressful to balance personal and professional commitments during the holiday season. Additional findings about Endurance customers' personal holiday shopping habits revealed:

When they do personal holiday shopping:

• 48% continuously shop for friends/family throughout the year
• 28% shop at the last minute
• 14% shop on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday

Where they do most of their personal holiday shopping:

• 26% – Large online retailers (ex: Amazon.com, Walmart.com, etc.)
• 15% – Locally owned businesses
• 7% – Large department stores (ex: Macy's, Target, Best Buy, etc.)
• 3% – Independent online sellers (ex: Etsy.com, etc.)
• 41% – A combination of all the above

The majority of survey respondents are willing to make sacrifices if necessary. Two-in-three Endurance customers surveyed (69%) would deactivate all their social media accounts if it meant saving their job or business. Additional activities respondents would be willing to do if it meant saving their business include:

• 39% – Wear the same outfit for a year
• 33% – Post an embarrassing photo of themselves online
• 19% – Run a marathon barefoot

Although respondents would be willing to forgo their social media accounts, they acknowledged that they depend on technologies to keep their businesses running. When asked what three things their business couldn't survive without, computer/laptops (63%), smartphones (47%) and websites (44%) topped the list.

"Technology is an integral part of most businesses' daily operations no matter the season," said Endurance CEO & Founder, Hari Ravichandran. "The fact that so many customers would be willing to sacrifice their social media accounts is an indicator of how dedicated they are to keeping their businesses alive. Endurance is committed to providing small businesses with the web solutions they need to run their businesses effectively, so I hope this is a technological sacrifice they'll never have to make." 

The online survey was conducted from October 11, 2016 to October 17, 2016 and surveyed 1,453 U.S.-based customers who use Endurance's web presence solutions.

Full survey results can be found and online here.

About Endurance International Group
Endurance International Group (NASDAQ: EIGI) (em)Powers millions of small businesses worldwide with products and technology to vitalize their online web presence, email marketing, mobile business solutions, and more. The Endurance family of brands includes: Constant Contact, Bluehost, HostGator, Domain.com, BigRock, SiteBuilder and Impress.ly, among others. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, Endurance employs more than 3,800 people across the United States, Brazil, India and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit: www.endurance.com

Endurance International Group and the compass logo are trademarks of The Endurance International Group, Inc. Other brand names of Endurance International Group are trademarks of The Endurance International Group, Inc. or its subsidiaries.

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SOURCE Endurance International Group

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