Conference Board: Consumers will spend less this holiday
-- Home Textiles Today, 11/23/2009 12:14:00 PM
New York – U.S. households will cut their average spending on gifts to $390 on Christmas gifts this year, down from 7% from last year’s estimate of $418, The Conference Board reported today.
“Consumers are approaching the holiday season very cautiously,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Job losses and uncertainty about the future are making for a very frugal shopper. Retailers will need to be quite creative to entice consumers to spend, both in stores and online this holiday season, as consumers most certainly will expect major markdowns and bargains.”
Only 26% of all households intend to spend $500 or more on Christmas gifts, down slightly from 27% last year. Among other households, 35% plan to spend $200 to $500, down from 37% last year, and 39% are planning to spend less than $200, up from 35% in 2008.
The biggest spenders will be New England households (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) who plan to spend an average of $534 on gifts. The lowest Christmas spending will be done in the Mountain region (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming), where consumers plan to spend $332 on gifts.
In a separate survey that looked at online holiday shopping, The Conference Board and TNS found consumers plan to lay off big ticket purchases unless there are major incentives attached.
“Even as the economy is starting to show signs of improvement, consumers are taking a cautious approach to their purchase decisions, focusing on lower ticket items that clearly communicate value,” said Bridget Armstrong, head of Consumer Sector at TNS.
Amazon.com is the most preferred shopping site, with national chains such as Walmart.com and BestBuy.com as well as catalog operators coming in a close second.
About 90% of online consumers see free shipping as a major incentive for shopping online. More than two out of three said special deals and offers not available in stores as well as coupons and discounts encourage them to spend more at retail web sites.
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