The 2010 Holiday Shopping Season Has Already Begun
Halloween hasn’t even hit us yet but that hasn’t stopped some consumers from getting an early start on their holiday shopping, according to data from Compete.
Numbers from the Compete Holiday Insights survey show that as of Oct. 10, approximately half of consumers have already started their holiday shopping for the year. About a quarter of this segment said they have already completed 1-10 percent of their holiday shopping, nearly 10 percent have completed 11-25 percent of their shopping and 16 percent have completed at least 25 percent of their holiday shopping.
Thirty-seven percent of consumers who made purchases as part of their holiday shopping during the week ending Oct. 10 bought clothing/shoes, while 33 percent purchased toys/games. Books, electronics, movies/video games, jewelry/watches, event tickets, decorations, photo gifts and gift cards were also popular holiday-shopping items that week.
Compete also found that early-bird shoppers seem to favor brick-and-mortar merchants, with consumers spending an average of $420 on in-store purchases versus $156 online.
Among the in-store retailers that saw holiday-shopping purchases, Walmart led the way with about 37 percent of spending, followed by Target with nearly 31 percent, Kohls with about 17 percent and Best Buy with about 16 percent.
Macy’s, JC Penney, Toys ‘R’ Us, Sears and Home Depot rounded out the other top retailers for the week ending Oct. 10.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), two out of five people began their holiday shopping before Halloween last year.
The NRF also notes that 19.1 percent of total retail-industry sales were attributed to holiday spending in 2009.
For the past decade, the average annual percentage increase of holiday sales was 2.45 percent, according to the NRF.
Holiday sales are expected to grow 2.3 percent this year from last year to $447.1 billion in 2010. In 2009, holiday sales grew just 0.4 percent.
“Retailers are expected to compensate for this fundamental shift in shopper mentality by offering significant promotions throughout the holiday season and emphasizing value throughout their marketing efforts,” said Jack Kleinhenz, Ph.D., chief economist at the NRF.
Sources:
http://blog.compete.com/2010/10/18/welcome-holiday-season-2010/
