Surveys Point to Increased Holiday Spending

supermarketnews.com DATAPOINTS November 26, 2012 INCREASED HOLIDAY SPENDING Projections for holiday spending are all over the map this year, with some projecting gains over year-ago results because of the slowly improving economy, while other predict consumers might be more cautious this year because of looming uncertainty over the so-called "fiscal cliff" and the potential for tax increases. About half – 49% – of consumers said they feel the economy is "weak, but slowly recovering from a recession," according to Deloitte's 2012 Annual Holiday Survey. That's up from 32% who expressed that opinion a year ago. Similarly, only 37% agreed that "there's been no recovery," vs. 50% who expressed that opinion last year. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers Goldman Sachs 2012 Holiday Spending Intentions Survey, 64.8% of shoppers will spend at least as much this year as they did last year, with 24.2% of all shoppers saying they plan to spend "more" or "substantially more." SOURCES: Deloitte, ICSC, National Retail Federation 32 $100.76 HOLIDAY WISH LIST (multiple responses allowed) Gift cards 58.9% Clothing Books, CDs, DVDS or Video Games Average consumer's planned spending on holiday food and candy 49.1% 45,7% Electronics 35.8% Jewelry 24.0% Days of shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas the maximum possible SOURCE: NRF 2012 Holiday Consumer Spending Survey SOURCE: NRF 2012 Holiday Consumer Spending Survey 2012 Holiday Spending Plans Holiday Shopping List (% of total spending) 41% A1% Gift cards 21.3% Apparel 14.1% More/ substantially more 24.2% Toys and games 14.1% Media (books, CDs, DVDS, etc.) Accessories (handbags, wallets, etc.) Less/ 11.1% substantially less 35.2% of shoppers 8.5% say they have a Electronics 8.5% specific budget for holiday spending Jewelry 7.5% About the same 40.6% Housewares/ 6.9% furnishings/appliances 4.3% SOURCE: Deloitte 2012 Holiday Survey Footwear 3.6% Experiential gifts (concert tickets, cooking classes, etc.) SOURCE: ICSC Goldman Sachs 2012 Holiday Spending Intentions Survey SOURCE: ICSC Goldman Sachs 2012 Holiday Spending Intentions Survey "Trying to stay within budget, shoppers will map out their holiday season shopping strategy before stepping foot in any store or logging onto any website." PAM GOODFELLOW, consumer insights director, BIGinsight (for NRF) 129% Shopping Destinations 65.3% 57.8% (Where consumers said they will purchase holiday items this year) 51.8% 51.8% 36.2% 31.8% 21.8% Projected growth in online holiday sales in 2012 SOURCE: NRF 2012 Holiday Consumer Spending Survey SOURCE: NRF 2012 Holiday Consumer Spending Survey