Americans Begin Holiday Shopping; 23.3% Opting for Jewelry

(IDEX Online News) – Halloween has barely come and gone, and Thanksgiving is not even here, yet early holiday promotions seem to have been just the thing to get American consumers shopping.

According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) holiday consumer spending survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 53.8 percent of shoppers have already begun picking out the perfect gifts. Of these early bird shoppers, 23.3 percent say that jewelry items are among their must-buy list.

The power of these early promotions is such that the 46.2 percent of people who say they have yet to start shopping is the smallest such response rate in the survey’s history.

"Shopping early has become a very real trend with consumers today as they look for ways to spread out their budget, and retailers have answered their call with attractive holiday offerings as early as October,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay.

Despite the early start, it is not all good news for retailers, however, with consumers saying they actually have plans to spend slightly less than last year.

Topping the list of gifts is clothing and clothing accessories (60.7 percent). Gift cards – the most requested gift item for the seven years in a row – are also a popular option for 59.2 percent of holiday gifters. Additionally, 44.3 percent of people say they will buy toys, 23.3 percent will buy jewelry items and 19.0 percent will buy sporting goods and leisure items.

Unsurprisingly, the electronics category is experiencing a strong surge this year, with 33 percent of those surveyed saying they will buy electronics and/or computer items and accessories, up from 31.8 percent last year and the highest percent seen since 2006.

This year’s shoppers are also increasingly financially savvy and prefer to use money they already have or have saved up to purchase holiday gifts rather than turning to credit. More than four in 10 (43.7 percent) will rely on debit cards as their primary form of payment. An additional 25.4 percent will use cash and 2.4 percent will use a check. Nearly three in 10 (28.5 percent) will charge their gifts.