Commentary

Holiday Shoppers Will Spend Almost $800 and Started At Halloween

Holiday Shoppers Will Spend Almost $800 and Started At Halloween

For upcoming planning and anticipations, the NRF continues to forecast that holiday sales will increase 5.0 percent this year to $457.4 billion, and the 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that the average consumer plans to spend $791.10 this holiday season, up from $738.11 last year. Furthermore, shoppers will take advantage of sales and discounts during the holiday season to spend an additional $99.22 on themselves.

NRF President and CEO, Tracy Mullin, said "With gas prices coming down and consumer sentiment on the rise, shoppers want to celebrate the holidays in style."

  • 70.3% of consumers this year will shop at discount stores
  • 48.4% at specialty stores
  • 49.3% grocery stores
  • 21.0% drug stores
  • 20.5% crafts or fabrics stores
  • Additionally, 47.1% of consumers said they plan to shop online this year, up from 36.0 percent three years ago.

61.6 percent of shoppers plan to shop at department stores for holiday items, up from 53.1 percent in 2003. Department stores are likely to see much of their traffic from young adults, with 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.

Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch, said "Young adults see the holiday season as a time to splurge, not skimp, on gifts for loved ones."

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
  • $44.52 on other people like clergy, teachers, and babysitters.

The survey also found that most Americans plan to increase spending on flowers and decorations. Consumers also plan to spend $91.20 on candy and food and $30.57 on greeting cards and postage. According to the survey, 40.4 percent of consumers began their holiday shopping this year before Halloween.

While the majority of shoppers continue to say that everyday low prices and sales or price discounts bring them into stores, more shoppers this year said that other factors like customer service, product quality, and merchandise selection are the most important when determining where to shop.

For more about this report, please visit this site.

For charts and graphs, go here, and download more detailed pdf data here.

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