Survey Shows Consumers Planning To Spend More this Holiday Season - Nov.2004
The average consumer expects to spend $700 on the holidays, up 4.5% from last
year, according to a National Retail Federation survey. Total holiday
spending this year is estimated to reach $219.9 billion.
A total of 22.6% of those surveyed said they wanted jewelry for the
holidays, according to NRF 2004 Holiday survey.
Books, CDs, DVDs, videos, and video games held the highest ranking, with
53.1% of consumers hoping for one of these items. Clothing and clothing
accessories also continue to rank high with shoppers at 50.6%. More than half of
consumers (50.2%) want to receive a gift card. Other items on consumers' wish
lists include consumer electronics (32.6%) and home décor (21.3%).
Average consumers will spend most of their holiday budget on gifts for family
($406.52) and friends ($71.29), according to the survey. 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.
The majority (41.8%) of those surveyed say that sales or price discounts 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%).
About 18% of consumers started their holiday shopping before September, and
6.9% started in September. Nearly 18% beginning in October., 34.3% in November
and nearly one in four (23.1%) waiting until December. v |