“Consumers are approaching the holiday season in a somewhat cautious mood,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “However, with retailers already enticing consumers with markdowns and bargains, this season could very well match, perhaps even surpass, last year’s.”
The top spenders will be New England households (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) who intend to spend an average of $473. Lowest Christmas spending will be in the Pacific region (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington) where consumers intend to spend $343 on Christmas gifts.
Only 25 percent of all households intend to spend $500 or more on Christmas gifts, down slightly from 26 percent last year. Among other households, 39 percent plan to spend $200-$500, up from 35 percent last year, and 37 percent are planning to spend less than $200, down from 39 percent in 2009.
ONLINE BUYING INTENTIONS
This year, 41 percent of all consumers say they will buy Christmas gifts on the Internet. Books top the list of online Christmas buying, with 40 percent saying they will buy books as gifts. Toys/games came in second with 38 percent of consumers intending to purchase these gifts online. Apparel and footwear rank third as online Christmas buying choices, followed by movie videos and DVDs.
Of the 42 percent who said they purchased Christmas gifts last year on the Internet, 94 percent said they were satisfied with their online buying experience.
