Dec 18, 2007

One in Five Men Have Not Started Holiday Shopping, According to NRF

No matter what way you choose to look at it, procrastinators abound this holiday season, but the biggest holiday dawdlers this year are men, according to NRF’s 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch. The survey found that nearly one in five men (19.4%) had yet to begin their holiday shopping, more than women (13.7%) or young adults 18-24 (17.6%).

An impressive 25 million consumers (11.7%) have completely finished their holiday shopping, but more than 35 million shoppers (16.5%) admit they haven’t even started. Thusfar, the average person has completed about half (52.6%) of his or her shopping, compared to 53.1 percent at this time last year.

“Though the holiday season will be a challenge for retailers and shoppers are paying attention to prices, people are still buying Christmas presents,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “The last-minute rush will be busier than ever this year, and retailers are preparing by expanding employee schedules, keeping shelves stocked, and extending store hours.”

According to the survey, department stores are expected to be the destination of choice the week before Christmas, as 42.4 percent of shoppers plan to visit those stores to finish up holiday shopping. Other destinations will include discount stores (38.9%), the internet (34.9%), and specialty stores (29.9%).

Clothing and accessories have been the most popular gifts this holiday season, with 44.4 percent of consumers (and 49.8% of women) purchasing at least one item this year. Books, CDs, and DVDs (41.9%) have also been popular choices, as are toys (35.4%).

While less than a third of consumers (30.2%) have already purchased a gift card, sales of the cards are expected to jump this week as procrastinators find themselves running out of time. An earlier holiday survey by BIGresearch for NRF found that gift cards were the most requested gift for the holidays this year.

“From aggressive promotions to special offers, retailers have big plans to bring people into stores this week,” said Vice President of Strategy at BIGresearch Phil Rist. “In addition to traditional holiday presents, gift cards will be a very popular last-minute choice for shoppers since they are easy to purchase and are never out of stock.”

NRF is forecasting holiday sales to increase four percent over last year, bringing total sales to $474.5 billion. November sales, which were released last week, rose 5.1 percent over last year.

The NRF 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey, which polled 8,135 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from December 4-11, 2007. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.

BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 7,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.

The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees – about one in five American workers – and 2006 sales of $4.7 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.