You must have noticed the holiday shopping season has begun pretty early this year. Although we are still in the mood of Halloween, we already look for Christmas deals both off and online. The Dubai Mall’s stores vitrines already sparkle covered with Christmas decorations. Holiday and Black Friday shoppers will spend more this year, according to a new study. So are you loosening the purse strings this year?
Deloitte’s 28th annual survey of holiday spending and trends came out a couple of weeks ago. According to the results, holiday and Black Friday shoppers will spend 9 percent more on gifts than in 2012, about $421 per person compared to only $386 last year. The reason for this good prognosis is based on several factors. Many people enjoy higher incomes this year which could mean more spending. And the markets are up, say experts, while at the same down taxes are down and are expected to remain down. Generally, people feel more confident than in 2012, although we are still feeling the effects of the global crisis. Of course, there is lot of anxiety when it comes to the current and future economic climate, but shoppers are further encouraged by early sales, especially online.
The study also finds that 47 percent of people plan to shop online. This is a huge growth for e-commerce, but of course, the results will be clear after the holidays. It is certain though that shopping is moving from the streets and shopping malls which were once so powerful on Black Friday to websites. The shocker in the survey is the finding that people shopping both in stores and online will spend 76 percent more than those who prefer only brick-and-mortar retailers.
Only one in 9 shoppers plan to do the largest part of their holiday shopping on Black Friday (the traditional in-store event). In comparison, Cyber Monday, as well as online Black Friday sale events at various websites are becoming more and more popular. FatWallet released its annual survey of Cyber Monday trends and according to it, more than half of Cyber Monday shoppers said they plan to spend more this year. On the other hand, online couponing site RetailMeNot released a survey which ranks American as some of the most anxious people in the world when it comes to holiday spending. But the survey also found that half of the consumers will spend the same or more as last year. Some of them even say they started their Christmas shopping in September.
This year, not only online retailers such as Amazon has started early – big retail chains like Walmart for instance announced it offers Black Friday deals for customers shopping online. This is a clear sign online shopping is the big thing now. According to estimates, in-store Black Friday deals in 2012 went down 2 percent, while online sales increased 26 percent! In addition, many people believe that in-store deals are not that great on Black Friday. You don’t have to wake up early, stand in line for hours and endure the crazy crowds anymore. Instead, you can start shopping earlier online and get even better deals. Amazon, for instance, launched a Black Friday Countdown sale, which will continue until November 24. Then, they will have Black Friday Deals of course, followed by a week-long Cyber Monday event. This means that their holiday shopping deals will run for more than a month! And it’s definitely a reason to spend more this year!
