Washington, DC, October 21, 2003 – The
consumer spirit is alive and well this holiday season, according to the findings
of a new National Retail Federation (NRF) survey. The NRF 2003 Holiday Consumer
Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, found that the
average consumer plans to spend $671.89 this holiday season, up from 2002 when
consumers spent an average of $648.85.
The survey also found that 92.2 percent of
consumers plan to celebrate Christmas, 5.8 percent will celebrate Hanukkah, and
1.6 percent will celebrate Kwanzaa.
On average, consumers plan to spend $518.44
on gifts this year--$393.69 on gifts for family members, $73.27 on friends,
$17.16 on co-workers, and $34.32 on other gifts. Consumers also plan to spend
$34.18 on decorations, $25.79 on greeting cards and postage, $79.42 on candy and
food, and $14.06 on flowers. This year, more than half of consumers (50.8%) also
plan to take advantage of sales and promotional items to purchase non-gift items
for themselves, with the average consumer purchasing additional items planning
to spend $146.69.
NRF is projecting that holiday sales will
increase 5.7 percent this year to $217.4 billion, which would be the largest
increase since 1999.
With some retailers seeing between 25-40
percent of their annual sales during the holiday season, “There’s still time for
retailers to show positive gains in 2003,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy
Mullin. “Retailers can expect a much better holiday season than last
year.”
Last year’s gifts will remain popular this
year, with more than half of consumers hoping to receive books, CDs, DVDs,
videos, or video games (52.7%) and clothing or clothing accessories (51.2%). A
surprising leap came in the gift card sector, with 48.4 percent of consumers
wishing for gift cards this year, up from 41.3 percent last year. Consumers also
hope to receive electronics (33.9%), jewelry (23.9%), and home furnishings
(20.8%).
Though traffic and sales have improved,
consumers are still focused on price. When asked why they choose to shop at
certain stores for the holidays, 38.9 percent of consumers said they base their
decision to shop at certain retailers on sales or price discounts and 20.7
percent choose to shop at retailers with every-day low prices. However, nearly
one in five consumers (18.1%) plan to shop at stores based on their
selection.
“Though many consumers are more financially
comfortable now than they were a year ago, they are still looking for great
prices and savings on gifts and everyday merchandise,” said Phil Rist, Vice
President of Strategy for BIGresearch. “The retailers that succeed this holiday
season will be those that continue to focus on sales and promotions to drive
traffic.”
An increasing number of consumers are
starting their holiday shopping earlier each year. This year, 42.8 percent of
consumers plan to begin their holiday shopping in October or before, up from
39.1 percent last year. Another 35.0 percent of consumers plan to begin shopping
in November with the remaining 22.1 percent planning to wait until
December.
NRF highly suggests shopping early this year.
“With retailers continuing to manage their inventory very well, the golden rule
for consumers this holiday is ‘Buy it when you see it,’” said Mullin. “There’s
no guarantee that the red sweater you’re eyeing will continue to be in stock as
the holiday season nears.”
Consumers plan to shop in a variety of stores
for holiday merchandise. Discounters will see the most traffic with
three-fourths of consumers (75.1%) planning to shop at a discounter this
holiday. Consumers will also be heading to department stores (53.1%), specialty
stores like clothing or electronics stores (36.7%), grocery stores (44.4%), and
online (36.0%).
About the
Survey
The NRF 2003 Holiday Consumer Intentions
and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping
trends related to the winter holidays. The survey, which polled 8,234 consumers,
was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from October 2-10, 2003. 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 and independent stores as well as the industry's key
trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with
more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 20 million employees
– about one in five American workers – and 2002 sales of $3.6 trillion. As the
industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and
international retail associations. www.nrf.com
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NRF and BIGresearch will be
releasing the second installment of the 2003 Holiday Consumer Intentions and
Actions Survey on Tuesday, November 18th.
