Round-Up of Holiday Spending Surveys, Reports
by ilene - November 24th, 2009 2:43 pm
Round-Up of Holiday Spending Surveys, Reports
Courtesy of Michael Panzner at Financial Armageddon
If the following round-up of holiday spending surveys and news reports (with salient quotes) is anything to go by, those who have been counting on a V-shaped recovery in the (consumer-dependent) U.S. economy might want to reconsider:
"Consumers in a Frugal Holiday Mood, The Conference Board Reports" (PR Newswire)
U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $390 on Christmas gifts this holiday season, down from last year’s estimate of $418, The Conference Board reports today.
The survey of Christmas gift spending intentions covers a nationally representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. It was conducted for The Conference Board in November by TNS, the world’s largest custom research company.
"Consumers are approaching the holiday season very cautiously," says 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."
"AP-GfK Poll: Debt Turning Shoppers into Scrooges" (Associated Press)
A lot more Americans are feeling stressed out by debt this holiday season, raising the glum likelihood they’ll behave like Scrooge rather than Santa.
In fact, fully 93 percent say they’ll spend less or about the same as last year, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. Half of all those polled say they’re suffering at least some debt-related stress, and 22 percent say they’re feeling it greatly or quite a bit. That second figure is up from 17 percent just last spring, despite all the talk about economic recovery.
Most people — 80 percent — say they’ll use mostly cash to pay for their holiday shopping, and that generally means buying less.
"Stock Watchers Keep Eye on Black Friday Store Sales" (USA Today)
U.S. consumers are expected to spend $437.6 billion in the November and December period, a 1% drop from $442 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Six out of 10 consumers (61%) said they would only buy goods "on sale," a survey by NPD Group found.
"Survey Shows Consumers Intend to Spend Less on Credit This Holiday Season" (Credit Union Times)
A survey of consumers
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