The Holidays Go Electronic

November 7, 2014 – In anticipation of winter holiday gift-giving, The National Retail Federation has released spending survey results, the highlight of which is that 56% of consumers plan to shop online, up from 51.5% last year, and that the average shopper plans to complete 44% of all their shopping on-line, the highest percentage in the survey’s history.

Fifty-five percent of smartphone owners said they would use their device while shopping, up from 53.8% last year. Thirty-six percent will research and compare products or prices, 23.9% plan to redeem coupons and 19.1%, a survey high, will use their mobile device to pay for goods at the register.

Forty -one percent of 25-34 year olds stated that they would be “somewhat or very comfortable” paying pay for items via mobile wallet at the register, compared to just 14.4 percent of those 65 or older.

Consumers estimated that they would increase their spending on family gifts by 6.5% this year. NRF forecasts that holiday sales will increase overall by 4.1%.

And, lest you think that we’re jumping the gun by blogging on holiday shopping weeks before Black Friday, the survey reported that 40.4% of people said they started their holiday shopping before Halloween.

Read the full survey report here: https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/gift-givers-plan-splurge-friends-family-this-holiday-season.