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Consumer spending to increase for holidays; gift cards to be popular
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — More than half of consumers say they plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this holiday season, slightly more than what they planned on spending in 2011, according to PriceGrabber’s winter holiday shopping survey.
The survey of online shopping consumers, conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 12, revealed that 75% planned to shop with online retailers, 74% said they’d shop at discount stores and 49% planned to shop at traditional department stores.
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Nielsen: Health is coming home for the holidays
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — According to Nielsen analyses issued Thursday, higher consumer confidence levels, increased impulse buying and consumer intent to spend more could all lead to an upside surprise in 2012 holiday spending.
For sales in 89 categories across five key departments (food, beverages, alcohol, health/beauty and homecare), Nielsen is forecasting spending for November and December 2012 to reach $98.3 billion. Nielsen expects dollar sales to increase 2.3% and unit sales to remain generally flat (0.1%).