Holiday shoppers just getting started

Waiting is the name of the game this holiday shopping season, as a national survey reveals that 72 percent of consumers have completed less than 10 percent of their shopping, compared with 2.2 percent of shoppers who say they have finished.

Those results are from the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch. The poll also found that consumers will shop in gift categories similar to last year, with 57 percent of respondents buying clothing and accessories followed by 56 percent going for books, CDs, DVDs and video games at the top of the list. Other popular gifts include new game systems, Blu-ray DVD players and other electronic items (30 percent), toys (42 percent), gift cards/certificates (54 percent), personal care or beauty items (21 percent) and jewelry (19 percent).

Though many consumers are struggling, most do not plan to rely on credit for the bulk of this year’s holiday purchases. The survey found that 41.5 percent of shoppers primarily will use their debit/check cards to pay for holiday items compared with 40.1 percent last year.

The number of Americans who will pay with cash also is up slightly this year, with 22.8 percent of shoppers using dollars to make holiday purchases, compared to 22.1 percent a year ago. People using credit cards as a primary payment method dipped to 31.5 percent this year from 32.3 percent last year, while personal checks are becoming nearly nonexistent, expected to account for only 4.3 percent of purchases.

“Americans may be hesitant to purchase expensive gifts this holiday season, but personal and practical gifts will resonate most with shoppers this year,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin.

For more: www.nrf.com.

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