Despite the bleak economic climate continuing to put a damper on prospects for the holiday shopping season, the number of shoppers expected to turn to the web to research items or comparison shop is expected to jump to 70%, up from 38% a year ago, according to PriceGrabber Inc.’s 2009 Holiday Forecast.
“Shoppers this year really want to make sure they’re getting the best value, the best deal and the right product for them,” says a PriceGrabber spokeswoman in explaining the increase in web shopping.
However, the survey also found that one-third of consumers plan to purchase fewer gifts this year, and 53% plan to spend less than a year ago.
Similar signs of consumer caution emerge from the 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey released today by the National Retail Federation, a major retail trade group. The survey says U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday-related shopping, the lowest total since 2003, and a 3.2% dip from last year’s $705.01. The decline is widespread, with 84% of consumers planning to decrease their spending from a year ago.
More than 65% of consumers say the state of the economy will affect their holiday shopping plans. The result is an increased focus on bargains. More than half of holiday shoppers say that sales and price discounts (43%) or everyday low prices (13%) will be the most important factor when deciding where to shop. Other factors, like selection (21%), quality (12%), convenience (5%) and customer service (4%), dropped from last year.
Despite the increased focus on price, the number of consumers planning to make an online purchase dropped to nearly 78% from 80% a year ago, NRF says.
Shipping costs are one barrier keeping some consumers from purchasing online, with 20% of shoppers saying they will only make an online purchase if offered free shipping, according to the PriceGrabber survey.
PriceGrabber conducted its online survey of 2,018 U.S. consumers from Sept. 24 to Oct. 12. BIGResearch conducted the NRF survey of 8,431 consumers from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7.
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