40% Of US Consumers Plan To Do Hands-On Purchases Before Halloween.

American retailers need to be reminded again that sales this holiday season will be a challenge.

According to the NRF2008 holiday consumer intention and action Survey (completed by BIGresearch), the average consumption of the US consumer plan during the holiday period was $832.36, an increase of only 1.9% over the previous year's $816.69.

This is the lowest growth in consumer spending since the survey began in 2002.

Although consumers choose to go shopping in different seasons, consumers say that the most important factor in purchasing decisions this year is price.

According to the survey, 40% of shoppers say that promotion is the biggest factor in deciding where to shop, and 12.6% of people say that daily low prices are most important.

Some consumers said that the choice of opportunities and quality of goods is also a major factor.

A small number of consumers say that they will purchase at convenience stores this year or purchase places where they can provide consumer services.

A few years ago, gifts were the biggest expenditure component of the shopping plan.

The average cost of buying gifts for family members this year is US $466.13, the average expenditure on gifts for friends is US $94.52, the average expenditure for gifts for colleagues is US $26.7, and the cost of buying gifts for each other is US $43.50.

For the first time in the history of the survey, people said they planned to reduce gift expenses for family members ($466.13 in 2008 and $469.14 in 2007).

Spending among young people (18-24 years) is expected to decrease significantly, and their gift spending plans will be reduced by 50 US dollars over the previous year.

Most consumers (69.7%) plan to shop at discount stores.

In addition, more American adults plan to shop in department stores (58%), the top 1/3 consumers plan to shop in clothing stores (37.3%), and 37.3% of them plan to shop in electrical appliances stores.

The Internet has become the main way for retailers to publicize themselves. Americans compare prices on the Internet, look for retail locations, and look for gifts before shopping.

This year, the proportion of consumers who buy gifts online is expected to be the same as last year (44.2% in 2008 and 44.3% in 2007), and consumers will rely more on the Internet to browse holiday gifts and find products.

According to the survey, the Internet has a 33.6% impact on holiday purchases, up from 30.2% last year and 28.9% in 2006.