NRF Reports 56% of Shoppers Plan to Buy Online
October 20, 14
(IDEX Online News) – Forget the crowds, forget the crush, this year an all-time high of 56 percent of shoppers plan to do some of their holiday purchasing online, up from 51.5 percent last year. In addition, the average shopper says they will do 44.4 percent of their shopping online, according to the latest consumer survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF).
The survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, found the average person celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa and/or Hanukkah will spend $804.42, up nearly 5 percent over last year’s $767.27.
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The report found the majority of smartphone owners (55.7%) will use their device in some way, up from 53.8 percent last year. Specifically, 35.8 percent will research products or prices. Nearly one-quarter (23.9%) will redeem coupons and 19.1 percent will purchase items – another survey high.
Almost two-thirds (63.2%) of tablet owners will use their device to research and purchase holiday items, which is the same as last year. Nearly half (47.4%) will research products and one-third will purchase items.
When it comes to why consumers chose to shop where they do during the holiday season, one-quarter of shoppers say easy-to-use mobile websites is an important factor in their decision. Those polled also say free shipping/shipping promotions (42.3%) are important factors, as is helpful, knowledgeable customer service (30.3%), convenient locations (47.9%), low prices (41.2%) and sales or price discounts (74.7%).
As to what people are buying, for the eighth year in a row gift cards are the most requested gift item among those celebrating the holidays. According to the survey, 62 percent say they’d most like to receive a gift card, followed by clothing (52.5%), books, CDs, DVDs or video games (43.1%), and electronics (34.6%). One-quarter (24.8%) say they would like to receive jewelry, a slight increase from 23.3 percent last year.
Interestingly, the survey says that self-gifting will decrease this year as shoppers opt to shift their budgets towards spending on others: 56.9 percent of holiday shoppers say they plan to take advantage of sales and discounts to purchase non-gift items for themselves or others, and will spend an average of $126.68, down from $134.77 last year.
NRF is forecasting holiday sales to increase 4.1 percent.