Nov 12, 2007

Consumers Slow to Start Holiday Shopping, According to NRF SurveyBy Kathy GrannisNRF.com

Washington, November 12, 2007 – Retailers who are concerned that holiday sales aren’t living up to expectations needn’t worry: shoppers are off to a slow start. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, most consumers (71.4%) have less than ten percent of their holiday shopping completed. Young adults 18-24 are the least prepared with three-fourths of them (76.2%) finished with less than ten percent of their shopping.

“Good news lies ahead for many retailers whose shoppers have yet to put a dent in their shopping lists,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Now that the weather has started to cool, consumers will start to think about holiday shopping by making lists, researching gift ideas, and window shopping around town.”

According to the survey, debit and check cards will be king again this year with 40.1 percent of shoppers relying on them to make purchases this holiday season, up from 39.1 percent last year. Additionally, about a third of holiday shoppers (32.3%) will primarily use credit cards for holiday purchases. As electronic transactions begin to replace traditional methods of payment, only 5.5 percent of shoppers plan on using their checkbook, and 22.1 percent will use cash.

With unending options, the majority of consumers plan to reach for clothing or clothing accessories (57.2%) and books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games (57.1%) when purchasing gifts for their loved ones. Gift cards continue to rank at the top of lists with 56.6 percent of consumers saying they plan on buying gift cards this year. Other popular items include toys (43.1%) and consumer electronic or computer related accessories (29.2%).

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