Consumers in Holiday Spending Mood

A report from Los Angeles-based PriceGrabber on winter holiday shopping reveals optimism for both consumers and retailers for the upcoming 2012 holiday season. More than half of consumers surveyed say they are planning to spend the same amount of money or more during the 2012 this year. Conducted from August 31 to Sept. 12, 2012, the survey includes responses from 2235 U.S. online shopping consumers.

Of those consumers who indicated that they will spend more money this holiday season, 34 percent attributed their decision to better prices on gifts, 22 percent said they have confidence in the economy, 13 percent said they will spend more due to increased credit limit, and 8 percent are tired of being frugal.

“Our survey data found that shoppers are not only expecting to find great prices and bargains this holiday season, but 59 percent of consumers plan to start shopping even earlier this year to spread out the impact of purchases, compared to 53 percent in 2011,” says Rojeh Avanesian, vp, marketing and analytics of PriceGrabber. “Our data indicates that 17 percent of consumers plan to start their holiday shopping in September and 31 percent plan to begin in October this year.”

Those who indicated they plan to spend less money on holiday shopping say their decision is based on increases in prices for food, gas and other necessities, reports PriceGrabber.