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High fuel & food costs, product safety concerns pinch holiday spending
November 3, 2007
New York, Nov. 1 – Four in 10 consumers expect to reduce their spending this holiday season, especially in the areas of home improvements, socializing/entertaining, charitable donations, home/holiday furnishings and non-gift clothing, according to the 22nd Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, commissioned by Deloitte. However, consumers said they plan to spend about the same on gifts as they did last year, and they expect to buy more of them. The survey results also revealed:
+The credit crunch is not a primary reason for spending less. Lower income households were more likely to cite higher food and fuel costs as the reasons for spending less this year, while those at higher income levels were more likely to cite volatility in the stock market and declining home values.
+Department and discount stores and discount continue to be the top shopping destination.
+Older consumers (age 61-74) plan to spend 27% more than the average consumer.
+Gift cards are expected to be the top gift purchase, with 69% of consumers surveyed planning to buy them, compared with 66% last year. They’re also planning to buy more this year -- an average of 5.5 cards compared to 4.6 last year -- and will spend about $6 more per card.
+Consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety of imported products, with those over age 44 being most concerned. Fifty eight percent (58%) say the recent news stories about product recalls will influence some of their purchase decisions this holiday season and more than half say a product's country of origin is important to them when making a purchase decision.
About the Survey
The survey was commissioned by Deloitte and conducted online by an independent research company between 9/24-10/4/07. The survey polled a sample of 14,135 consumers and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus one percentage point. For more information about Deloitte’s Annual Holiday Survey, visit www.deloitte.com/us/2007HolidaySurvey.
Posted by Susan Dickenson on November 3, 2007 | Comments (0)
