Shoppers Plan to Spend $800 Each for Holiday Shopping, 47% Online
Friday, 27 October 2006
The average US consumer plans to spend $791.10 this holiday season, up from $738.11 last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, which was conducted by BIGresearch. Furthermore, shoppers will take advantage of sales and discounts during the holiday season to spend an additional $99.22 on themselves.
In total, NRF continues to forecast that holiday sales will increase 5.0 percent this year to hit $457.4 billion.
Though retailers have barely begun holiday promotions, many consumers have already started their Christmas shopping. According to the survey, 40.4 percent of consumers will begin their holiday shopping this year before Halloween.
Consumers this year will shop at a variety of destinations for holiday gifts, including via the Web. Nearly half (47.1 percent) of consumers said they plan to shop online this year, up from 36.0 percent three years ago.
In addition, while discount stores (70.3 percent) continue to be the most popular holiday shopping location, many people will also be shopping at specialty stores (48.4 percent), grocery stores (49.3 percent), drug stores (21.0 percent), and crafts or fabrics stores (20.5 percent).
This holiday season is likely to bring good news for department stores, as 61.6 percent of shoppers plan to shop there for holiday items, up from 53.1 percent in 2003. Department stores are likely to see much of their traffic from young adults with a whopping 79.1 percent of 18-24 year-olds planning to shop at department stores for holiday merchandise, up from 72.9 percent last year and 65.9 percent in 2004.
As usual, most holiday budgets will be allocated to gifts, with the average person spending $451.34 on family, $85.60 on friends, $22.40 on coworkers, and $44.52 on other people like clergy, teachers, and babysitters.
The survey also found that most Americans plan to increase spending on flowers ($18.98 vs. $15.78 last year) and decorations ($46.49 vs. $40.86 last year). Consumers also plan to spend $91.20 on candy and food and $30.57 on greeting cards and postage.
Most shoppers’ wish lists will include traditional favorites, from clothing and accessories (53.3 percent) to books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games (55.2 percent). Gift cards will also continue to be a popular request, as 52.8 percent of consumers would like to receive a gift card this year.
While the majority of shoppers continue to say that everyday low prices (14.2 percent) and sales or price discounts (36.5 percent) bring them into stores, more shoppers this year said that other factors like customer service (4.4 percent), product quality (12.4 percent), and merchandise selection (24.3 percent) are the most important when determining where to shop. Additionally, 6.5 percent of shoppers said they choose stores with the most convenient location.