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YO! Shopping Procrastinators! What You Gonna Do?
Last-minute gift shoppers may be a boon for jewelers, as jewelry is one of the top five gift choices for those who shop later in the holiday season for gifts, as well as for those seeking stocking stuffers.
If it's the holiday-season 11th hour, then more than 20 percent of shoppers are desperately seeking gift cards, according the latest Shopping in America 2005 survey. The study finds that by the Thanksgiving weekend, the average consumer still had more than 64 percent of their holiday shopping left to do, according to the poll of more than 2,300 shoppers from across the country conducted by research firm August Partners for The Macerich Co.
The average consumer will give about three gift cards this holiday season, the survey finds, citing the cards as the top choice of last-minute gift shoppers. Other popular last-minute gifts include: CDs, DVDs or books, selected by 19.2 percent of those polled; perfume, for 14.6 percent; jewelry for 10.1 percent; and gift baskets for 8.8 percent. Jewelry also made it onto respondents' top-five list of stocking stuffers, with 14.2 percent making sure baubles were among the small gift items included.
Many shoppers indicated they'll be waiting until closer to Christmas to do their shopping, with 30 percent saying they believe they can get better deals at that time, a prediction borne out by retailers as Christmas nears.
"About 30 percent of shoppers surveyed think they can get better deals closer to Christmas, which will likely be the case, as deep retailer discounts are expected to continue throughout the holiday season," said Garry Butcher, vice president of marketing and consumer research for The Macerich Company, in a release from the group.
Factors driving last-minute gift purchases, according to the survey, include: convenience, for 23 percent of those polled; price, for 20.5 percent; advertising, for 7.5 percent; and panic, for 4.8 percent. While a third of last-minute shoppers said they'll likely spend the same amount as they otherwise would have, more than a fifth (22 percent) said their late gift-buying ways would require them to spend more than originally planned.
