Shoppers will spend 16% more for gifts, entertaining, travel and decorations during the upcoming holiday season, and the biggest gains will come from direct sources, according to a new survey.
Total holiday spending, as estimated in the 1999 American Express Retail Index on holiday shopping, should reach $1,558 per reveler. Spending on gifts will jump 19%, from $915 to $1,088, 17% on entertaining ($161 to $188), 7% on holiday travel ($151, as opposed to $141), while decorations will show the biggest gain, up 26% from $61 to $77. Shoppers also plan to spend, on average, $54 on “miscellaneous holiday expenses. “
In terms of channel, direct sources stand to make the biggest gains. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they would use the Internet in some way during the holiday season, with 12% indicating they would purchase gifts, up from 10% in 1998. Fifteen percent said they would use the Internet to browse for gift ideas, 13% said they would use it to compare prices, and 9% said they would send electronic cards and photos over the wires. Forty-two percent of those buying gifts on line said they would be doing so for the first time.
But just as the number of online shoppers is increasing, the number of brick-and-mortar stores visited is falling. Survey respondents said they would visit nine this year, as compared with 12 in 1998. Twenty nine percent of the respondents indicated they would shop through catalogs this year, compared with 25% last year.
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