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Insights Into Holiday Spending in Stores and on Web Sites

Findings in a new study from Burst Media outline four insights into spending trends by consumers this holiday season.

Insight #1: Spending Trends Slightly Downward
One third (32.7%) of respondents expect to spend less on gifts and entertaining this holiday season compared to 2008, and almost the same number (30.1%) expect to spend about the same as they did last year. Only 14.6% of respondents expect to spend more than last year, and 22.7% are unsure of their 2009 holiday spending.

Women will be more frugal than men this holiday season, with 38.1% reporting they will spend less, compared to 27.3% of all men. Among key demographic segments, two out of five (43.8%) Baby Boomer women (45-64 years) indicate they will spend less this year on holiday gifts and entertainment compared to 2008. Trimming holiday spending is seen among all income segments: 29.5% of respondents reporting household income (HHI) of less than $35,000 will cut holiday spending, as will almost half (46.3%) of households reporting HHI of $35,000-$75,000, and nearly one-third (31.3%) of households reporting HHI of $75,000 or more.

Insight #2: Holiday Revelers Plan to Stay Close to Home
Only one-third (37.6%) of respondents have definitive plans to travel more than 300 miles from home this holiday season. Among holiday travelers the automobile (18.0%) will be the most popular mode of transportation, followed by airplane (11.8%), train (4.4%) and bus (3.4%). Older respondents (55 years and older) are the segment most likely (52.1%) to say they will stay home this holiday. Interestingly, women are significantly more likely than men to say they plan to stay home during the holiday season, 47.1% versus 37.7% respectively.

Insight #3: No Clear Start to the Holiday Shopping Season
With all the retailer hype around Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), only one out of ten (13.6%) respondents consider the day to be the official start of the holiday shopping season. Contrary to popular myth, men are not the only last-minute shoppers -- our study found that 21% of men and 15% of women wait until the last minute to shop for the holidays.

Insight #4: Holiday Shoppers Will Be Online
With 62.8% of holiday shoppers planning to cut back or spend the same as 2008 -- marketers will need to be more aggressive than ever to compete for those coveted holiday dollars. Savvy marketers will be looking to reach these consumers where they shop -- which more and more is online.

The Internet has become a go-to holiday shopping resource. Our study found that only 14.7% of respondents will not shop online this holiday season. Additionally, our study discovered that of those who made online purchases in 2008, 78.6% will purchase at least the same if not more gifts online for the 2009 holiday season.

Online Shoppers Will Also Window Shop
The most popular online "window shopping" activities are comparing different retailers to find the best price (56.8%), and comparing the features of different brands (55.3%). Women are slightly more likely than men to use the Internet for price comparison (59% vs. 54.6%) while men are slightly more likely than women to use the Internet to research and compare features of different brands (58.1% vs. 52.5%).

Online Shoppers Still Make Purchases Despite Concerns
Six out of ten (63.7%) online shoppers are concerned about credit card security when making a purchase online with more women (69.4%) fearing it than men (58%). Other areas of concern include shipping costs (54.5%), privacy of personal information (54.1%), product quality (46.3%), shipping issues/delays (37.1%), return policy (33.6%), and product availability (31.6%).

What Shoppers Are Buying Online
The Internet and brick-and-mortar stores are the two primary resources consumers use to research products they might purchase. Which source they turn to depends greatly on the item of interest.

The Internet is cited as the best place to learn about computer equipment (66.8%), personal electronics (i.e., digital cameras/mobile phones) (65.2%), digital music players (i.e, MP3 Players/iPods) (65.1%), and home electronics (54.1%); Retail stores are still the best places to go for home furniture (60%), jewelry (53.1%), men's, women's, teen, and kids' apparel (53%), and cosmetics (46.8%).

(Source: Burst Media, 10/09)

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