What do YOU planning on buying this holiday season?
As Ana Serafin Smith reports for the National Retail Federation:
“With shoppers eager to take advantage of early promotions from retailers, more than half of consumers have already started making dents in their holiday gift lists, according to the annual mid-season survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.”
“NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said: ‘This time of year is about finding the right gifts while staying on budget. For those looking for anything from toys to apparel at retailers large and small, in-store or online, retailers are ready with great merchandise at affordable prices.’”
I find out that the more the person educated, the less she or he engaged with holiday sale. Maybe it is because a lot of educated people I surrounded by is those who are marketing professors.
With their explanation and suggestions, I changed my plan and buy nothing.
During Chinese single’s day season, one can find posts on Wechat, the most powerful mobile application and social media, encouraging people not buying so that retailers have overwhelmed inventories and further, price will go down even more than prices on sale. But it never worked out.
What’s funny Is that clothing and clothing accessories is ranked the highest. If anything, I would assume that clothing items would be less likely to be bought because of the different tastes and sizes people you are gifting to are. Personally, this season, I bought a lot of home improvement and décor and furnishings because my friends are now a lot older. This statistic may have been more interesting if there were age groups included on what items were bought by each age group.
I find it interesting that gift cards are ranked so high and are a popular gift for the holidays. I personally do ask for gift cards mainly because I am very hard to shop for so in the past I wouldn’t think twice about them being a popular gift. However, after taking a marketing class I now wonder how much money is wasted by buying a gift card as opposed to buying the actual items from the store that the receiver would be purchasing.
I believe it is essential to buy gifts, but to stay on budget. Too many people have no knowledge of their finances and put themselves into so much debt buying things they cannot afford. I feel the market creates an illusion for consumers to buy by promoting all these sales and discounts. It makes the consumer think they are getting a great deal when in fact they are still spending money while companies are still profiting. The best thing is to only buy what you can afford and to not rack up debt on your credit card.
I believe it is fundamental to purchase presents for our loved ones, however to remain on spending plan. Excessively numerous individuals have no learning of their funds and place themselves into so much obligation purchasing things they can’t manage. I feel the market makes a fantasy for customers to purchase by advancing every one of these deals and rebates. It makes the purchaser think they are getting an awesome arrangement when in reality they are as yet burning through cash while organizations are as yet benefiting. The best thing is to just purchase what you can bear the cost of and to not pile on unpaid liability on your credit or debit card bills.
I definitely agree holiday gifts should be bought but it should be in budget. Most people don’t care as much of what the gift is, but rather the thought behind the gift. (Atleast that’s what I would like to think.) It can be easy to stay on budget and get thoughtful gifts that loves ones will appreciate. Lots of people even opt to make gift instead of buying them. I am surprised at clothing being on top for this chart. If anything I thought that electronics would be on top of the chart.
I was not surprised to see clothing and gift cards ranked so highly on gifts consumers were planning to buy this holiday season. Every year people want to get their Christmas shopping done early, but in reality many people wait until the very last minute to shop for gifts. This is why I think clothing is always a good option because it is something the person will use daily and you can find clothes everywhere. However if I had to pick between clothing and a gift card, I would absolutely pick a gift card because different tastes can vary on clothes. Also with gift cards, stores get more revenue since shoppers usually spend more than the amount they were gifted. If someone got a shirt for Christmas, it does not give them incentive to continue shopping afterwards like a gift card would.
It is surprising to see clothing is raked number 1 in the list, so many people are buying clothing as gifts. Not many my friends use clothes as gifts since taste very from person to person, it is hard to decide weather the clothes she/he would like or site. I looked what Lucero said in the comment, i agree with her, it makes sense that people buy clothes as gift because clothes could be used daily. And another surprising is that flowers are ranking almost the last, especially in U.S., i always thought people like to give flowers to their friends. Looking forward somebody could explain that.
I find it interesting that clothing and clothing accessories are ranked so high. I always felt that if I didn’t know a person really well or unless they told me exactly what they wanted, I wouldn’t buy clothes, just because of the fact that clothes are so hard to pick for someone else. Gift’s are definitely something that I think should be something very personal, but I feel like picking your own clothes is a personal decision that is hard for someone to replicate.
It is not shocking that 61% of overall sales of this season come from clothing. The clear reason is many relatives seek to find a practical use of presents. While an Xbox game may be preferred by the recipient, it serves less of a practical use for the overall well-being of the person. What is a more productive use of $65 dollars? Madden 17 or a very good quality sweatshirt from Nike? Many perceive the latter to be more practical and helpful. Clothing may not be the most exciting Christmas present, but it is certainly one with a lot of good uses.
I just considered that electronics would be the first due to regularly people would buy TVs, PS4s, Laptops or cell phones on Cyber Monday which can significantly help the sales volume of electronics. But surprisingly, No.1 is clothing, and personal electronics is just No. 6. Btw, I have felt Thanksgiving twice. Last year, I drove to Delaware and planned to buy something in the tax-free state but actually fewer products and less discount made disappointed. Thus, this year I stayed at home and tried to purchase online. I did buy some electronics with a certain rate of discount but the on sale power was not that strong as I imagine.
No surprise that clothing is the highest gift category for retail shopping gifts this holiday season. What separates retail from online shopping – the physical, in person aspect – is manifested through how much consumers want the clothing in retail. Because people can try on clothes and touch clothing materials in person, they are more confident to buy clothes in retail than online. From first hand experience, I know that ordering shirts online and waiting a few days for them to be delivered to my home, is more of a process than going to a retail store, trying something on immediately or touching a material and seeing if that material is something the gift receiver would wear.
Based on the survey, I think when people choose holiday gifts, they mainly consider three aspects: price, practicability, and whether the gift is unique and can properly show their regards. I think that’s why the gift card is must-have for more than half of people. It’s cheap but carries a sincere and unique greeting. But only a gift card may not be enough, especially for those who are important. So some practical gifts, such as clothing accessories, books, electronics, are also very popular.
I thought it was very interesting to see that food/candy and consumer electronics had such a similar percentage, considering the fact that electronics have become so popular. I did not expect food/candy to have such a high percentage because I was under the impression that other gifts were more popular during this part of the holiday season. It may simply be that as popular as they are, electronics are expensive and when you compare these gifts to food/candy from a cost perspective, the more inexpensive gift is more attractive.
I think the reason of people’s purchase action during the holiday is not totally due to lower prices. Partially, this is because of some traditional culture or environment influence. In that day, a lot of people think they have to buy some thing rather than they need something. What’s more, it’s so surprising that gift cards is ranked as second. Maybe, some people really don’t know what to buy. They just get into the environment.
I am not surprised that clothing and accessories are on the top of most people’s shopping lists. For me I think everyone can benefit from clothes because you wear clothes all the time. Clothing is also not too expensive so I can stay on budget and buy gifts for everyone. Additionally, I was not surprised that a lot of gift cards were being bought. Even though I think they are a little bit impersonal, I guess it is a good safety gift for someone you don’t know what they want. Also with gift cards you can decide how much you want to spend to stay on budget during the holiday season.
There is no surprise to me that 61.2 % of overall sales of the holiday season come from clothing. When I think about my personal list, it consists of mostly clothing. When I am buying for my girlfriend or family members, most of the time it happens to be clothing. Also, I think it is very surprising how high gift cards are ranked. For that to be the second highest category is very interesting.
It is no surprise that clothing and clothing accessories at the top of the gifts list that consumers plan to buy, no one hates new clothes, right? But be careful when you shopping online for clothes on sale.What I know is on Taobao, some small online retailers raised the original prices of apparels then gave the discount on that day, claimed as the holiday sale, so the truth is you may be paid even more than usual. I alway encourage myself rational spending on holiday seasons, sometimes those great deals you think are just a lie that made by advertisers and marketers. Especially after learned marketing and adverting courses, I felt so calm facing those sales during the holiday season.
Definitely clothing, makeup and food! What i shop most is clothing and some makeup goods, but what surprised me is the gift cards are also very popular! I guess people buying gift cards not only for themselves but also for their friend because that is a perfect gift tho.
This is a good topic. As a Chinese student, I am kinda surprised to see that many people are buying gift cards. While in China, most of people prefer to give money directly on holidays which saves a lot of time to choose gifts. People may not choose clothing in China as a gift when considering about the size. Thus, different countries have different consumer behaviors during holiday times.
It’s not surprising that clothing category tops the rank. Personally, I shop clothing, shoes, accessories and beauty products often, even not in the holiday season. No doubt, companies will offer great deals in holiday seasons to attract customers to buy more. On the other hand, holiday season is also the time to exchange gifts. Thus, more purchases will occur during this time.
I find it funny that Clothes and Accessories are ranked highest on the list while gift cards come in close second. I don’t really see a need for people to buy specific clothes and accessories for their loved ones because most of the time they may not be buying something that the person might actually like. This is why we have a habit of adding the receipt right next to the gift. Might as well cut out the extra shopping time and just buy a gift card.