With gift-buying over, shopper look for themselves
The presents are unwrapped, the clothing has been modeled, the snow has melted off the roads — it’s time for after-Christmas shopping for many.
During the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, gifts are returned to get the right sizes or exactly the right gift. But it’s also time for shoppers, armed with holiday cash and gift cards, to hit the stores in search of something special for themselves, retailers said. And other shoppers are in search of sales.
To date, retailers have experienced their best holiday season since 2007, a record year.
The week ending on New Year’s Day contributes less than 10 percent of the Nov. 1-Dec. 31 season but accounts for more than 15 percent of holiday spending, according to retail research firm ShopperTrak. Analysts generally predict holiday season spending will be up 3 percent to 4 percent over last year, the best percentage increase since 2006.
Gift-givers know that exchanges are part of the game and many are providing gift receipts with their gifts, great news for retailers who typically see long lines of people waiting to make exchanges after the Christmas rush.
More than 60 percent of shoppers said they provide a gift receipt most or some of the time when giving a gift, up from 58.5 percent who said so last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Holiday Returns Survey.
