Consumers do have cash for the holidays
-- Gifts and Dec, 10/26/2004 8:00:00 AM
WASHINGTON—According to the findings of a new National Retail Federation (NRF) survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, the average consumer plans to spend $702.03 on the holidays, up 4.5 percent over last year. Total holiday spending this year is estimated to reach $219.9 billion, according to the NRF.
This year, average consumers will spend the bulk of their holiday budget on gifts for family ($406.52) and friends ($71.29). Consumers will also spend $22.12 on co-workers and $41.10 on other people, including babysitters, teachers and clergy. Other items consumers will purchase, the survey stated, include decorations ($35.91), greeting cards and postage ($25.22), candy and food ($83.77), and flowers ($16.10).
More than half of consumers (51.2%) plan to take advantage of sales this holiday season to make non-gift purchases for themselves or their families, spending an additional $89.25 on those purchases. Overwhelmingly, men and young adults plan to spend the most on themselves ($116.87 and $114.69, respectively).
As usual, books, CDs, DVDs, videos, and video games held the highest ranking, with 53.1 percent of consumers hoping to receive something in that category. Clothing and clothing accessories also continue to rank high with shoppers at 50.6 percent. The largest jump this year came in gift cards, with more than half of consumers (50.2%) wanting to receive a gift card, up more than 10 percent in two years. Other items on consumers' wish lists include consumer electronics (32.6%), jewelry (22.6%), and home decor (21.3%).
Many retailers have been placing greater emphasis on customer service this year, but the majority of consumers still say that sales or price discounts (41.8%) or everyday low prices (15.6%) are the most important factors when choosing to shop at a particular store. Other consumers shop at stores based on their selection of merchandise (20.0%), quality (8.7%), or location (7.8%). Though only 4.4 percent of consumers said that "helpful, knowledgeable customer service" was the most important factor when choosing where to shop, it is increasing in importance. Just two years ago, only 3.1 percent of consumers said that customer service was the most important factor in shopping.
The survey also found that consumers this year plan to shop at a variety of stores for their holiday shopping including discounters (77.1%) and department stores (53.1%). More than a third of consumers plan to shop at grocery stores (46.7%), specialty stores (39.3%), and online (38.3%).
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