Holiday shoppers planning to cherry-pick bargains

NEW YORK — About 1-in-3 holiday shoppers say they expect more than half of their purchases to be on sale or discounted, The Conference Board reported Tuesday. According to the survey, an increasing number of consumers will be clicking and shipping. Nearly 7-in-10 expect to purchase at least some of their holiday gifts online, while about 1-in-4 say more than half of their gifts will be purchased online.

 

But consumers will be spending more. U.S. households plan to spend an average of $538 on gifts this holiday season, up slightly from $528 last year, The Conference Board reported Tuesday. About 8% of consumers say they plan to spend more this year on holiday gifts, while approximately 32% plan to spend less. The remaining 60% plan to spend about the same as last year.

 

"The recent improvements in consumer confidence — along with robust job growth and declines in gas prices — have consumers approaching the holiday season in better spirits than last year," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. "However, despite the improved holiday cheer, consumers will once again seek out bargains and incentives when making their purchases."

 

The survey of holiday gift spending intentions, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen. The survey was conducted for The Conference Board in October as part of the Consumer Confidence Survey.