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Gus Ruelas / Reuters
Shoppers pay for their purchases at an Old Navy store last holiday season. This year, overall spending is expected to be cautious, except when it comes to spending on ouselves.
Holiday shoppers plan to deck the halls and splurge a bit more on themselves this year, but overall spending will remain cautious this holiday season as shoppers hunt out the bargains they know they’ll find this time of year, according to the results of a new survey.
The average holiday shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, up slightly from the $740.57 they actually spent last year, according to the survey conducted by BIGinsight for the National Retail Federation.
“We’ve seen this pattern of cautious optimism all year and despite the challenges that still exist in our economy, it looks as if consumers are eager to celebrate with friends and family,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation.
Recently, the NRF forecasted that holiday spending would rise 4.1 percent, slower than last year's growth, but higher than the average gains over the past 10 years.
‘One for You, Two for Me’
This year, holiday shoppers are looking to treat themselves, according to the survey. Six in ten shoppers, the most in the survey’s history, plan to spend an average of $139.92 on “self-gifting” this holiday season. The trend is even more pronounced among young adults between 18 years old and 24 years old, about 71.5 percent of those in this age group are planning to buy gifts for themselves.
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“It looks like young adults have the ‘one for you, two for me’ mentality about the holiday season this year, which is surprising, given that this is also the age group that typically doesn’t have the income or ability to splurge,” said Pam Goodfellow, director of BIGinsights Consumer Insights division.
But it does make sense when you consider that retailers have conditioned shoppers to expect great deals on products during the holiday season. Consumers have been working hard over the past four years to hone skills to help them stretch their dollars and are likely taking advantage of the promotions, which have already started far ahead of Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving that has traditionally been considered to be the start of the holiday shopping season.
Waiting to begin holiday shopping until after Thanksgiving is a tradition that clearly has been broken. About 41.4 percent of 8,899 consumers polled in early October told NRF that they will begin their holiday shopping before Halloween.
Despite the scorn, consumers embrace 'Christmas creep'
Although the NRF didn’t cite specific reasons why shoppers are starting their shopping early, retailers have been offering many incentives to get shoppers in the buying mood. Not only have stores such as Wal-Mart, Sears and Toys 'R Us offered layaway programs, but there also were lots of promotions being offered as early as Labor Day weekend.
Stretching out the holiday shopping period also is a good strategy for more budget conscious shoppers who want cut any corners they can, comparison shop and spread out their purchases to soften the blow of holiday spending, and avoid the hangover of Christmas debt.
Retailers are pulling out the stops to get shoppers into the store early. Target began running its holiday ads this week, and it joined others such as Best Buy and Toys ‘R Us in offering price matching guarantees.
Trouble in Toyland: sales slowing heading into holidays
Economy less of a factor
Although these kinds of tactics may not move the needle significantly, it may make some more cautious customers feel more confident about making those purchases early.
This year, fewer shoppers in the NRF survey cited the economy as a factor in their spending plans, but the number remains high. Some 52.3 percent said the state of the U.S. economy would affect their spending, down from 62.2 percent last year.
That may reflect that consumers are simply accustomed to living on a budget and watching their spending, and may be better prepared for holiday spending.
According to the survey, the biggest portion of the holiday budget will go towards gifts for family members, with the average person planning to spend $421.82 on their kids, parents, and other family members. About $75.13 will be allocated to friends, $23.48 on co-workers, and $28.13 on others, including their pets and members of their community.
And don’t forget the decorations. Consumers are looking to be festive this year, and are pulling out the stops on décor. The average person will spend $51.99, up from $49.15 last year, and the most in the survey’s history. That means total spending on décor could reach $6.9 billion.
More shopping than ever will occur online, as has been the trend in recent years. More than half of all shoppers will do a portion of their shopping online, up from 46.7 percent last year.
And the most-wanted gift of all? Gift cards. Some 59.8 percent of those surveyed want to receive a gift card, more than other popular gifts such as clothing, books, DVDs, videogames and electronics. Nearly one quarter want jewelry, the highest response for this category since 2008.
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One bald-faced lie after another. These clowns actually believe that ALL Americans are stupid cowardly sheep. They count on too many of us not being able to think for ourselves.
Don't these idiot sensationalists understand that most Americans are experiencing a deep Recession, while many are warranted to claim they are in a Depression?
And besides, they don't want to hear about anything related to the Christian Christmas Holidays; they just want the money.
I can't wait to see how many Corporate American profiteering companies fold next year. Maybe some major job loses would force Americans to act in their own self-defense. Take control of their own government.
Happy Holidays to you too.
----
I'm buying myself a new belt-sander.
My old one finally gave out.
.
Christian Christmas holidays .... I almost forgot. Sad...
Hello folks, since when did materialism become the defacto proof that you care and love those close to you. This corporate holiday has been reduced to the antithesis of spreading love, joy and good cheer to humanity. It has been reduced to a stressful obligation to spend money a lot of people don't have putting them behind for the rest of the year and rinse and repeat the following year.
I have an idea, how about having a festive meal with your loved ones with no gifts and no stress! That would be a holiday to remember.
Sure if We were in the top 1%, since We are not this is a pile of crap, people are paying through the nose for their gas and food just so the 1% can have a nice Christmas.
NBC spouts their on going LIES, meanwhile Walmart continues to cut hours of their employees and Obama's campaign borrows $15M to keep his campaign afloat to tell more lies.
And Sam 627556...Not to worry. You will never have what you speak against, so not to worry that you will ever be part of the 1% you malign.
I was a little troubled by the Obama Campaign needing $15M Loan? Please! Explain!!! And yes my business is down close to $10,000 from last year. It's been a little tuff. I have a wonderful girl friend that is helping me keep it afloat. But please what a puff piece. Please think before you vote. You can enjoy the same depressing next four years if it stays this good which i predict it will get worse or you can have an industrial giant step into the batters box and hit this country out of the park. I have relatives in Switzerland, they really want Mitt in the White House, as they say for the good of the world. His knowledge and skill in business will literally turn the economies of the world around for prosparity. And they have a business that puts me to shame, so i trust them and their thoughts.
switzerland is where all the wealthy hide some money, they have no monetary problems there. so what makes them so high for Romney? I suppose his hidden money might have something to do with that.
I just get for my son all year and remind him when he gets it it is an early Christmas gift. I see no need to spend a ton of money for one day when I can get him things he wants/needs all year long and make him happy all year long. Of course I still get him a couple small things for under the tree just for tradition sake but he seems to enjoy to not have to wait for a year to get what he wants and don't seem to mind not much under the tree.
HOW can I Splurge on myself with a MEASLY 1.7% increase in My SOCIAL SECURITY??!!
Maybe God will answer my prayers and that Handsome Young Senator Harry Reid will send me a Present!!!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 . . KEEP THE DREAM (and ME) ALIVE . . YOU PAYING FOR ME!!!!
If you're so offended by the "MEASLY 1.7% increase" in your Social Security benefits, why in the world would you support the President? His administration is the one giving you that "MEASLY 1.7% increase"!
Has nothing to do with the President. The COLA is set by the CPI and it does not increase unless there is inflation. Whether it is 1.7% or 5% it does not matter its all automatically calculated based on the CPI.
@HandsOffMyMedicare!!
Poor you, in a few decades social security will be gone even though many people will have been paying into it for years. Why? Because politicans have been raiding the Socual Security coffers. Thanks for leaving us with a pile of debt!
Read up to this point and my, the repub/tparty trolls are busy. Look, the economy is in an upswing. Jobs ARE opening. Then with the seasonal employment it'll put a few more bucks in your pocket. A step at a time. Housing is up. Interest rates will start climbing a spinch. Gas prices are leveling. Stock market is showing stable gains.
Our military and the families are finally getting some breaks. Prez Obama signed the Civil Relief Act that reduces charge card rates while on active duty. Then there's the Jobs Mission to hire 100,000 vets, mortgage assistance for families near military bases, including Forts Bragg, Hood and Camp Lejeune. Banks are donating 1,000 mortgage free homes to vets and their families.
This is only one man, against a tightly controlled, Big Money-funded repub/tparty Congress, but Prez Obama is doing it. In almost 4 years, he has made a number of well placed moves to get the country away from the edge. There's more to come and we need to put more support behind the Prez. Vote straight Democratic for Congress and stay involved. A Dem will listen to you. A repub/tparty will listen to his Big Money bag. That's a choice only you can make.
OBAMA-BIDEN and a strong Democratic Congress
"""Credit Card relief""" for whom the banks: Dodd Frank makes certain any bank losses: we the working taxpayers foot the bill--no can learn "too big to fail" READ...ignorance has killed this nation: look in the mirror...
Earthgirl, So does this mean he's finally working after 4 yrs in office????
HOMM, as I have said before, you are just what happens with poor financial planning. If you had saved and not depended upon the government for sustenance you would be much better off.
Romney--Ryan--2012.... we need jobs not more excuses.
The LAST place you will ever get jobs is from the two Lyin's Kings, Romney and Ryan.
.
Good luck getting it frrom those two clowns.
They will help you find a job in China
The Obama campaign has either bribed or threaten MSNBC or NBC what ever they call themselves. Just to make the news look good. It is all BS. Obama has failed at it is time for him to go
Please don't try to think. I can smell the insulation in your head burning clear over the internet. It smells like burning dog poop.
My IRA hhas gone up 14% this year. What planet do you live on?
So we can't blame the President for gas prices, 'cause he can't control those, but you can use the fact that market's are up, another item not under his control, to push for his re-election? Ain't cherry-picking facts fun??? Comon' kids let's see what we can do with the unemployment figures.....
Probably threatened. Look how many got 'mysteriously disappeared' during the Clinton admin. when all Hillary and Bill's dirty deals started surfacing.
You have got to be kidding???? I am an American who has a very good job and I will not spend any more than I did last year, or the year before that, which is about $500-$700 for Christmas gifts for 18 close immediate family members. Regardless of what this article states, many, many American people are living on a very tight budget since 2008 and so far, nothing seems to have changed that fact. So make the American people believe that they are really going to splurge this Christmas if it makes you feel better.
It's a wishful mind game by the retailers. Tell the public that people will be spending "X" on themselves and the brain-washed will do it or feel left out or like failures if they don't.
It makes corporate America feel better which is a far cry from blue collar Americans.
This article illustrates one of the biggest problem with our society today. People are going to be spending more on themselves this year, while continuing to complain about the state of the economy, price of gas, heating costs, food prices, mortgage payments, health care bills, etc. How about instead of complaining and spending so selfishly and foolishly, you PAY YOUR BILLS on time with cash not credit cards! The guy who wanted to blow up the Fed today did everything the wrong way. Blowing up a building won't bring the US to it's knees. Rather the US will be brought to it's financial knees by all it's own citizens that expect it to support them!
How soon we forget. The U.S.A. was brought to its knees by inside terrorists, bush/cheney, who - instead of going after Al Quada in Afghanistan, or Pakistan to get bin Laden, invaded Iraq. "Hey, why shorten a war, look at the money not made. Let's give Congress redacted information, let's give Americans lies and propaganda to go into Iraq and give them democracy." That's what brought this country to the brink. Add to that the bush tax cuts and the payoff to the pharma companies and bingo! DONE, that will bring victory to republicans (paraphrasing the PA state legislator).
Prez Obama has, for 4 years, worked to bring the U.S. to an upward move. And don't kid yourselves, there were some in Congress that were also against the Prez, hence the reasoning that Democratics were majority for 2 years holds no water. Prez Obama had long odds to succeed at what he tried to do and he did it, with a minimum of help from too many. You bring a repub/tparty in, especially a person who knows only how to make profit for a select few, and we're back to BAD news. Your vote will make a difference in our future for decades. Remember, repub/tparty want to get into the Middle East for oil. Your families will suffer "collateral damage," nothing more. And IF they return, it'll be to nothing, for nothing will be here.
OBAMA-BIDEN and a Strong Democratic Congress
Please, what a joke LOL!!! Nobama and Obiden, what a pair. They haven't done a thing, and on purpose!! The Republicans keep the House and they take the Senate and so to make it a happy marriage we need Mitt and Ryan in the WHite House and the country and the world will rejoice after two years with new job opportunities in this country. With an increase in income and hope that Nobama could ever dream of giving to us now.
sweaver209, did you watch what the repubs did while in the house for the last 2 years? They are the hold up, they are the ones that refuse to allow the recovery to be anything more than what it is. Are you blind?
I am 55, if rombehood gets in office, I won't be able to afford healthcare when I retire.. They refuse to see that those that are my age will not have recovered from this depression enough to pay for over half of the "individual" policys that healthcare companies offer. That voucher they talk about will only cover maybe a third of that cost.
I expect that makes people like myself expendable.
Just what the #@$ are you smoking Earthgirl? If he couldn't get some of things through Congress even with a Democratic majority, it's only 'cause everyone's against him? How about the fact that some of his ideas were just so stupid he couldn't even get them by a his own party? Even they were holding their nose on some of that crap. But no, it's just that the rest of us stood in the way of useless utopian ideas. Get a clue kid......
This article must have been written, bought and paid for by the National Chamber of Commerce to promote the Christmas Shopping Season. Naturally the supportive merchants on main street and in the malls support this fine effort but these merchants really need to extend their Holiday magic not only by exceptional buys but extra incentives to entice shoppers into their stores, as an example:
* Free Gas Cards
* Free Restaurant Gift Cards
* Free Car Wash (in Southern States) Free Oil Change (in Northern States)
* Free Parking
* Free Gift Wrapping
* Free Delivery
Now, Let's really see how bad they want your business. I'm not being unreasonable, I was a business owner and offered all of the above plus a few more incentives on certain purchases. These do not cost, they pay!
Come on people, we're talking about a 9 dollar increase. That barely covers inflation from last year. The author is a master of sarcasm.
"The average holiday shopper will spend $749.51"
under a Republican/McCain economy that would have been $7.49
Harold, you're spot on brother. That's a whopping 1.2% increase. But since MSN has a president to reelect, that's "splurging".
That's as much 'fuzzy math' as b. HUSSEIN obama saying he's dropped taxes 18 times for us middle class. May be true....but with gas, utilities and groceries skyrocketing, it's a smoke screen. Taxes down, Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness up 17 Trillion!! Surely nobody is that stupid to keep stuffing that in their craw!
This holiday? shooooot. I've been taking advantage of holiday sales to buy stuff for me for a long time. Everyone else gets a Christmas card.
"The average holiday shopper will spend $749.51"
under a Republican/McCain economy that would have been $7.49
In this economy? Are you nuts?
I for one can not afford anything. All cards, gifts, exctera welcome and very much appreciated.
This has all the makings of an outstanding holiday shopping season--in January 2013 when all the stuff that nobody could afford is on sale at a 90 percent discount . . .
And while I am waiting for the discount sales, I will be stocking up on the $5 frozen turkeys that stores will try to use as incentives to attract customers, really . . .
Really! :-D
Spend money on myself? What? I got laid off 10 months ago. I'm well educated, but I'm in my late 50s. Who wants to hire me? I consider food an indulgence!
jamie you hang in there
I believe that the desire to spend at the Holidays is the real reason that the Wal-Marts of the business world are really hiring so many seasonal workers. It is not to help their customers, they don't care how long you wait for service or products at any other time of the year. Hence 25 checkout lanes and only 3 cashiers.
The executives know full well that the money that the temporary workers make will be spent right in their own stores to feed this falsely inspired gift giving event.
well - new proof for self-centerdness - "one for you, two for me"....for Christmas gifts!!
Whatever I do purchase for myself or someone will be (1) something that is needed and (2) something "made in the USA (if at all possible). I am basically done purchasing "stuff" and "things" just because.
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Splurge Folks. Spend that money you don't have. China, Mexico, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Germany, etc. etc. etc. Will thank you for it since everything in OUR stores is made in those countries. Big and Greedy business fools you into thinking what you buy is good for OUR economy, when in fact it's good only for Foreign economies. Buy American?? LOL what a Laugh.
Show me an American made product and I'll buy it???
Ken D 3836641 check out www.americansworking.com , ztsytems.com
the rich want u to spend money just so they can have more while u get laid off struggling..then tell u your lazy
I use the deals of black friday and cbyer monday to get things I need. Clothes and other items that are in need of replacing plus I buy a few Christmas gifts. I find I do save money on these deals.
Come on posters can't we have one post where we don't talk about the republican or democrat idiots running for president.
Never trust a writer whose middle name is Cheddar..............
Really? No one that I know is plenty of spend a lot of money this year.
This year my kids said they want to spend Xmas eve and night with us so we can all wake up together on Xmas day like when they were little... They cannot afford gifts. I told them that is the gift that I wanted, Family together, it is the most precious gift I can get.
Joy, If that's the end result of all this crap, ain't it wonderful? Too bad we had to go thru all this just to get to that point<
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! wait this is a real story ? hahahahahahahahaha ! omg I better go shopping , maybe the penis head who wrote this story can pay for it cause I sure don't have any cash .
LOL! LOVE IT!!!! I totally agree with you!!!!!