Holiday 2011 Looks Somewhat Merry

The economy is awful. Jobs are hard to come by. Politics is more dramatic than professional wrestling. So how will consumers react during the 2011 holiday season? It appears they’ll just go shopping.

Nearly 3-out-of-5 consumers (59 percent) will put aside economic worries and spend the same or more this holiday season, according to Deloitte’s 26th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends. While this is a slight decline from 2010, it represents an eight percentage point increase from 2009.

Major changes in holiday shopping behavior are in destinations and mobile. The internet will be the top destination for online holiday shopping this year. More than one-quarter (27 percent) of smartphone owners said they plan to use their devices for holiday shopping to search for store locations (67 percent), compare prices (59 percent) and check product availability (46 percent). Additionally, 44 percent said they plan to use social media to seek discounts, read reviews and check family and friends’ gift lists.

In other survey findings:

• Of the 68 percent of consumers who plan to change the way they shop to save money, 51 percent said they plan to head online to find better prices — up 10 percent from last year — while 46 percent said they plan to buy more items that qualify for free shipping

• More than half of consumers (53 percent) reported plans to begin shopping before Thanksgiving, but 73 percent said they intend to hold out until after this holiday to make the majority of their purchases

• Apparel ranked as the most popular holiday gift (48 percent), followed by gift cards (45 percent), which is down a surprising 11 percent from last year
• Higher-income households’ gift spending will hold up, while middle and lower-income groups are paring back. Households earning $100,000 or more annually expect to trim gift spending by 2 percent to shell out an average of $812 on gifts, compared with a 26 percent drop to $291 on gifts among those earning less than $100,00

This will be the breakout year for mobile and social media impacting holiday sales. Watch for a couple of key retailers to capture the social media aspect of shopping (be it word-of-mouth, or viral) while the majority of retailers sit tentatively on the social sidelines.

For more go to: Retailers Expect Jump in Online Sales