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Holiday Spending Up; Online Research Significant
by Jack Loechner, Monday, October 22, 2012 6:15 AM
According to the PriceGrabber first winter holiday shopping survey, 50% of consumers plan to spend the same amount during the 2012 winter holiday shopping season that they spent last year, up
slightly from 48% in 2011. 12% plan to spend more, a positive increase compared with 7% last year. 54% expect to spend $500 or more. Of those consumers who indicated that they will spend more
money this holiday season compared with last year, 42% said they are making more money this year, 34% attributed their decision to better prices on gifts, 22% said they have confidence in the economy,
13% said they will spend more due to increased credit limit, and 8% are tired of being frugal. 62% attributed their decision to spend less money on holiday shopping in 2012 to an increase in
prices for food, gas and other necessities. 41% indicated that they are earning less money this year, and 39% said they planned to spend less due to an increased acceptance of giving less-expensive
gifts. The report says that 64% of shoppers say the economic climate will affect their overall spending. Stores Preferred By Holiday ShoppersStore Type% of Respondents Online retailers 75%
Discount stores 74 Traditional department stores
49 Local independent retailers 41
Electronic stores 36 Clothing stores 24 Luxury department stores 9
Source: PriceGrabber, October 2012; (N.B. The survey includes responses from 2,235 U.S. online shopping consumers)
Shoppers expect to find a holiday bargain this season, as 67% of consumers said retailers will offer better prices and discounts this year. When asked what retailer tactics will
entice consumers to buy a product this holiday season,
- 77% of respondents indicated free shipping
- 74% noted price cuts
- 55% said coupons
- 44% indicated blow
out sales
Rojeh Avanesian , vice president of marketing and analytics of PriceGrabber, says that "... 59% of consumers plan to start shopping even earlier this year... compared to 53%
in 2011... 17% of consumers plan to start their holiday shopping in September and 31% plan to begin in October... "
Consumers’ Planned Top Gift Selections (% of Respondents)
Planned Gift
Type% of Respondents Clothing 65% Gift cards 49
Books, CDs, DVDs, Video games 41 Toys 40 Shoes & hobby items
29 Jewelery 28 Food or
candy 24 Sporting goods 21 Cosmetics & spa gifts 17 Source:
Source: PriceGrabber, October 2012; (N.B. The survey includes responses from 2,235 U.S. online shopping consumers)
More shoppers will use the Internet to conduct research on products and pricing before making holiday purchases, says the report. 88% of respondents indicated that they will research
their holiday gift purchases in advance to find the best deals. Of those respondents:
- 38% plan to spend three to six hours researching holiday gift purchases
- 29% plan to spend
up to two hours
- 19% said they plan to spend over 10 hours
- 14% indicated between seven and 10 hours
Respondents expect the best holiday deals to be:
- After the Thanksgiving holiday 33%
- Black Friday 28%
- Month of December 23%
- Cyber Monday 16%
Avanesian concludes that "... consumers are still budget conscience and will continue to do their
research... (to) find deals, compare prices, set price alerts, print coupons, take advantage of online promotional codes and free shipping... “ For
more information about
the study and PriceGrabber, please visit them here.