Some 36 percent of U.S. consumers said they spent more this holiday shopping season than the last, according to a survey by accounting firm KPMG.  The survey also revealed that more than half reported making an Internet purchase, with four in 10 saying that selection and price led them to buy from a store other than where they normally shop.

 

About 39 percent of those surveyed said they spent the same as last year, while 26 percent said they spent less. The greatest motivators for purchases, respondents said, were price (32 percent), selection (27 percent) and convenience (22 percent), according to the KPMG survey of 840 U.S. households, which was conducted December 10 to 21.

 

"Consumers voted with their feet," said John Rittenhouse, national partner in charge KPMG's operations risk management practice. "They buy what they want when it's offered at a fair price and close to home. Four in 10 consumers spent more in a different store this year than they had in the past, with the 18-to-34 age group most likely to make such a change, and half of those who shopped in a different store said selection was the primary motivator for the change.”

 

"This also suggests that retailers may be better off targeting customers within a few-mile radius of their store locations rather than broadcasting a wider marketing net," said Rittenhouse, adding, "Households with incomes under $49,000 and heads of households under 44 […] were the most likely to report spending more this season.

 

"Of particular interest was that the respondents were less influenced by customer service and or the physical store facility," Rittenhouse said.

 

About 66 percent of household heads between the ages of 18 to 24 said they spent more this year compared to last year, as did 43 percent of their counterparts between the ages of 25 to 34. Some 47 percent of households in the median yearly income group below $30,000 said they spent more, as did 38 percent of households in the $30,000–$49,000 group.

 

Sales were also good outside of brick-and-mortar stores. "Particularly interesting is that Internet shopping included all age groups up to 65, with 53 percent of consumers making Internet purchases," said Rittenhouse. "The Internet continued to attract the most desirable customer, as the higher the income, the more the likelihood to buy on the Internet. For instance, people with incomes over $75,000 were twice as likely to use the Internet compared with people with incomes under $30,000."

 

Shoppers spent $30.1 billion online this season, up 30 percent from $23.2 billion last year, according to Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive.

 

While traditional brick-and-mortar stores continued to hold 68 percent of the 2005 holiday spending, it dropped 10 percentage points from the 2002 holiday season, when consumers said they intended to conduct 78 percent of their holiday spending in stores.

 

Though the final figures from jewelry retailers are not yet available, a recent report, Spending Pulse, issued by MasterCard Advisors of MasterCard International says jewelry spending this season was down 4.6 percent compared to last year.

 

The SpendingPulse report said that U.S. consumers spent 8.7 percent more during the 30 days between Black Friday and Christmas Eve. The biggest increases in spending were on home furnishings, up 15.2 percent, followed by consumer electronics and appliances, up 10.5 percent.

 

In contrast, the online sales channel rose 11 percentage points, garnering 27 percent of total budgets this year from 16 percent four years ago. Catalog buying remained steady at five percent this year, compared to six percent in 2002.

 

"E-commerce is gaining ground amongst consumers during the holiday season due to its convenience, product selection and lower prices. Most importantly, holiday shoppers are diligent about finding the best price,” said Helen Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielson/NetRatings. “With a longer shopping season, it was much easier to wait for additional price reductions," she added.

 

For the world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com, the 2005 holiday season turned out to be their best ever. The company's 'Holiday Delight-O-Meter surpassing 108 million items ordered for the first time.

 

The Delight-O-Meter tracks the approximate number of items ordered from Amazon.com, and its worldwide websites, and third party sellers, as well as Amazon.com owned items ordered at Syndicated Stores domains.

 

The 2005 holiday season also brought another single-day record with the Delight-O-Meter tracking more than 3.6 million items ordered, or 41 items per second, on December 12.

 

Top selling jewelry items included a 20" sterling silver eternity cross pendant, a diamond circle pendant, and a floating heart pendant with diamond. Watches also sold well. Among the top sellers were the Invicta Men's Automatic Pro Diver S2, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Movado Women's Amarosa watches.

But, it was not only sales that were up in December.

 

“The resiliency of the economy, recent declines in prices at the pump and job growth have consumers feeling more confident at year-end than they felt at the start of 2005,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's consumer research center, in a press release. “Even though all of the improvement over the past 12 months has been in consumers' assessment of current conditions, and expectations remain below earlier levels, consumers are confident that the economy will continue to expand in 2006.”

 

Says Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research. "While retailers are pleased with last week's performance, the holiday shopping season is far from over, since about 60 percent of gift card redemptions occur between December 26 and the end of January,” he said.

 

Increasingly, retailers view this period as "phase two" of the season, when fresh merchandise is needed to attract the consumer, he says.

 

Sales for the month and the holiday season, Niemira says, remain on track for a moderate increase of 3 percent to 3.5 percent on a year-over-year basis.