4 of 10 plan to cut holiday spending
Four out of 10 U.S. shoppers say they’ll spend less this holiday season because of higher food and fuel costs and falling home values, according to an annual survey by Deloitte.
Of more than 14,000 people surveyed, 41 percent said they plan to reduce spending for the three months through January, the highest in at least seven years. Another 52 percent said they’ll spend about the same and the remaining 7 percent plan to boost purchases. Consumers expect to cut back on home goods, entertainment, clothing and charitable gifts, the survey said.
Higher prices for milk and gasoline, along with rising mortgage payments and shrinking home values, have pinched consumer spending. Shoppers are also uneasy about the safety of imported products after recalls of millions of lead-tainted toys, as well as contaminated fish and pet food.
“There is certainly a lower degree of optimism across the board,” Stacy Janiak, vice chairman for retail at New York-based Deloitte, said in an interview. “We also see concern around the stock-market volatility and housing values” among more affluent consumers, Janiak said.
Shoppers plan to spend the same amount on gifts, the survey said, while buying less for themselves and their homes. Household goods and entertaining “have been very important” to holiday spending over the past six years, Janiak said.
U.S. retail sales will gain 4.5 percent to 5 percent for the three months through January, compared with last year, Deloitte predicts. The National Retail Federation, a Washington trade group, forecast a 4 percent sales gain for November and December combined, the smallest in five years.
