40% of people begin their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving · 4 November 04

A national survey done in October warns that the buying frenzy is set to start sooner rather than later. Although the new “Shopping in America” report, just released by the Macerich Company, concentrates on offline shopping trends this holiday season, online marketers and retailers should pay special attention because their sales season comes even faster, and ends even quicker.

Over 40% of the 6,200 respondents said they would begin their “serious” holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, and almost 30% will shop on “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving.

The survey also found that shoppers will spend an average of $898.38 on holiday-related purchases, which includes $608.15 on holiday gifts up 4% from the $584 average consumers spent on holiday gifts in 2003. This year, consumers say they will spend the remaining $290.23 on holiday decorations, parties and other related purchases.

“Despite some industry predictions of a modest season, the Shopping in America report shows that over 80% of consumers plan to spend the same or more than last year on holiday gift purchases,” says Garry Butcher, Macerich VP. In fact, only about 19% of shoppers surveyed plan to spend less than they did in 2003.

Nationally, shoppers will spend an estimated $58.48 for each recipient on their 10.4-person gift list. The survey also revealed that shoppers in the Southern region of the US plan to spend the most on total holiday gift purchases, at $630.20 while those in the Midwest will spend the least, $582.70.

In a finding that might be of special interest to online retailers, since online household income demographics still skew slightly higher than the national average, the survey indicates that planned holiday gift expenditures rise with annual household income. Shoppers in the highest income level plan to spend the most at nearly $900.00.

In its soon-to-be-released Holiday Shopping report, eMarketer projects online spending in the holiday months November and December will total $16.7 billion, up from $12.9 billion last year, representing a rise of 29.3% for the year.

According to Senior Analyst and author of the report, Jeffrey Grau, “As consumers gain online shopping experience, their expectations rise. With holiday shopping beginning very early in some cases, e-retailers will have to be extra nimble and ready for high traffic volumes to occur soon.”

Bricks-and-mortar stores are breaking out the holiday decorations now. Online retailers should also be preparing because it looks like the holidays are coming early this year.

Source: eMarketer

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