This Holiday Shopping Season, a Majority of Adults Plan on Spending about the Same as Last Year; Few Plan on Spending More

Free Shipping and a Percentage Off Rank as Most Enticing Promotional Offers

16 November 2011

Economy

New York, NY - Adults are more likely to be scaling back their holiday shopping budgets rather than expanding them, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of RetailMeNot.com. Just one in ten adults (11%) plan on spending more this holiday shopping season compared to last year, while 37% say that they expect to spend less. A majority (51%) expect to spend about the same as last year.

Adults ages 35 and older are more likely than are younger adults to be trimming their holiday budgets this shopping season (41% vs. 30%).
Parents are more likely to be spending more on holiday shopping this year than are adults without a child under 18 (15% vs. 10%).

Holiday Shopping Lists

Clothing and accessories are most likely to be on one's gift list, with 54% of adults saying that they are interested in making this type of purchase during the holiday shopping season. Other popular items include books, movies and music (44%); consumer electronics such as TVs, e-readers, and video games (37%); toys (34%); and bath and beauty products/treatments (26%). Fewer express interest in buying home goods such as furniture or appliances (18%), travel (7%), or luxury items such as a car or jewelry (3%) as gifts this year. One in five (21%) mention that they are interested in other areas of retail as well.

Women are more likely than are men to have clothing and accessories (61% vs. 47%); books, movies and music (49% vs. 39%); toys (41% vs. 26%); and bath and beauty items (35% vs. 16%) on their holiday shopping lists while men are more likely to buy consumer electronics (45% vs. 30%).
Adults under 55 are also more likely than are older adults to be interested in buying consumer electronics this holiday season (42% vs. 29%).

Preferred Promotional Offers

When it comes to preferences toward promotional offers, free shipping ranks first (26%), followed closely by a certain percentage off (23%), buy one-get one free offers (20%) and a certain dollar amount off (18%). Few say that they are most inclined to purchase an item if the promotional offer is a loyalty program points benefit (2%), while 11% select none of these offers.

Free shipping tends to be more enticing to women than to men (31% vs. 21%).
College graduates (31%) and parents (30%) are more likely than others to say that a certain percentage off makes them most inclined to make a purchase.

Shopping Online during Working Hours

Nearly half of working adults (46%) plan to spend time holiday shopping online during work hours this holiday season, including 11% who expect to spend five hours or more doing so. However, they most tend to spend less time shopping online for holiday gifts during work hours, with 20% saying that they will spend one to five hours shopping online at work and 15% saying that they will spend less than an hour.

Among those who are employed, younger adults (under 35) are more likely to do holiday shopping during work hours than are older adults (55% vs. 40%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted November 7-8, 2011. For the survey, national samples of 1,007 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos' U.S. online panel were interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the U.S. adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of 1,006 and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire adult population of adults aged 18 and older in the United States had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information please contact:

Rebecca Sizelove Senior Research Manager Ipsos Public Affairs 212-584-9253 [email protected]

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

Ipsos has media partnerships with the most prestigious news organizations around the world. In the U.S., UK and internationally, Ipsos Public Affairs is the media polling supplier to Reuters News, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, and the Hispanic polling partner of Telemundo Communications Group, a division of NBC Universal providing Spanish-language content to U.S. Hispanics and audiences around the world.

Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. We provide boutique-style customer service and work closely with our clients, while also undertaking global research.

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About Ipsos

Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals that helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world. Member companies assess market potential and interpret market trends to develop and test emergent or existing products or services, and build brands. They also test advertising and study audience responses to various media, and measure public opinion around the globe.

They help clients create long-term relationships with their customers, stakeholders or other constituencies. Ipsos member companies offer expertise in advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling, and consulting and offers a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies. The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999. In 2010, Ipsos generated global revenues of e1.140 billion ($1.6 billion U.S.).