Survey Predicts Consumer Spending Up This Holiday Season

The 2006 holiday shopping season looks promising for retailers, according to the recent 2006 Consumer Holiday Shopping survey. This Prospectiv Consumer Preference Index (CPI) survey, which was conducted by Woburn, Mass.-based Prospectiv, polled more than 1,000 consumers online Oct. 23-26, and found that 68 percent of consumers expect to spend more or the same in 2006 when compared to 2005. Online promotions and purchases are expected to do well, with 19 percent of consumers saying they expect to make more online purchases in 2006. The majority of consumers (73 percent) in 2006 will rely on the Internet to research and compare prices and varieties of holiday products and gifts (up from 71 percent in 2005), and most consumers will do a portion of their gift buying online, in addition to planning in-store purchases. Ten percent of consumers polled expect to make the 60 percent or more of all holiday purchases online, while 14 percent will complete half of their shopping online. Forty percent of consumers plan to make only a few online purchases this year (20 percent or less of all holiday purchases). The top reasons consumers plan to shop online include convenience (47 percent), avoiding crowds (18 percent) and better deals (15 percent). Additionally, 56 percent of consumers said free shipping would be the top motivator to persuade them to spend more of their holiday dollars online, while coupons, online offers and special discounts targeted to individual consumer preferences would motivate more spending--both online (14 percent) and in-store (16 percent). For in-store purchases, discount stores (45 percent), shopping malls (22 percent) and department stores (20 percent) are the top holiday shopping venues for consumers. The majority of consumers (62 percent) also said that they would do the bulk of their holiday shopping in December, while 47 percent begin shopping two to three months before the Christmas holiday. But, 44 percent of consumers said that they begin their online shopping sooner than in-store shopping. Lastly, 38 percent of consumers said they will spend the most money on clothes, followed by toys (22 percent) and electronics (16 percent).