PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, October 5, 2004 A new survey of consumer
holiday buying intentions by sales and
marketing information
company, The NPD Group, reveals that the 2004 holiday shopping
season could be challenging for retailers. Nearly nine out of ten
consumers say they are planning to spend the same amount or less
than last year. Sixty-nine percent of American consumers indicated
they plan to spend the same amount this holiday as last year; 18
percent plan to spend less than last year and 12 percent plan to
spend more. On average, consumers tell NPD they plan to spend $655
over the holidays.
Year over year, it appears from our surveys that consumers are
slowly but surely losing their passion for holiday shopping, said
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for The NPD Group. But that
doesnt mean merchants should lose heart we are seeing some
important growth opportunities. Its up to the retailers to be
vigilant and proactive. Those merchants who will ignite the
consumers interest will thrive and those who repeat what theyve
done in the past will simply survive, said Cohen.
Laptop Battery Men and Young Adults Could Drive Spending
Consumers age 55 to 64 plan to spend the most this holiday season
($693) and young adults plan to spend the least. But the young
adults could be the ones to stuff retailers stockings this year. On
average, consumers 18 to 24 years old expect to increase their
holiday spending dramatically from an average of $366 last year to
$537 this year. By comparison, adults age 25 to 34 plan to cut
their spending by 21 percent over last year.
Zinio Announces Launch of Digital Magazine Gift Service in Time for Holidays Consumers Are Going Digital for Last Minute Gifts This Holiday Season San Francisco, CA and New York, NY (December 14, 2006) Zinio, LLC, Inc. announced today that it has launched a new service to allow consumers to purchase digital magazine gift subscriptions through its online newsstand at www.ziniogifts.com. Zinio has made 70 of its best selling titles available for gift subscriptions, including PC Magazine, Macworld, BusinessWeek, Premiere, Men's Health, Elle, Popular Mechanics, Reader's Digest and other top selling consumer brands.
Thinkpad Men tell NPD they plan to spend more than women this year with
an emphasis on electronics. Of all the respondents, on average men
will spend $666 this holiday versus $624 for women and they say
theyll spend twice as much as their female counterparts on
electronics. Thats why marketing can make a big difference,
according to Cohen. It pays to look for marketing opportunities
within particular demographic segments and implement targeted
strategies to entice them to buy.
Unbeknownst to her, the man of Nancy's dreams is waiting in the mall disguised in a fake white beard and dressed in a jolly red suit.
Microsoft This holiday season, consumers say they will shop more in
discount stores, warehouse clubs, outlets and online merchants than
at other types of retailers. Seventy-two percent of consumers plan
to shop this holiday season in discount stores such as Kmart,
Target and Wal-Mart. Thirty-three percent of consumers plan to shop
in warehouse clubs and 26 percent of consumers will shop in
department stores. Just one-third of consumers tell NPD they will
shop at toy stores this year.
According to the indictment, Jones would steal various IBM and Penguin computer servers from Verisign's warehouse in Virginia and sell them to Johnson. Johnson would then sell the servers to several individuals, who would sometimes place them for sale on eBay. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Jones and Johnson caused Verisign to lose more than $120, 000 worth of computer equipment. In the indictment, Jones and Johnson are charged in three counts with causing the interstate transportation of stolen property, namely IBM 330 and 335 servers, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
Laptop Computers Online Retailers Expected to Ring Up Sales
Shopping from home remains a popular option for consumers in 2004.
Forty-one percent of men and women plan to buy holiday
gifts online. The NPD Groups
Holiday Survey finds higher income consumers and 25-44 year olds
will be driving online spending. More than half of the consumers
who say they will shop online have higher incomes of more than
$75,000 a year. Catalog shopping, however, is still preferred by
more women than men. Thirty-three percent of women said they plan
to shop via catalog/mail order this holiday season, compared to 26
percent of men.
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Laptop Computer Value, Convenience and Quality
The NPD survey also asked consumers about the influences that
affect them when they shop. Value, convenience of location and
quality of products were the top three reasons consumers shop where
they shop. A majority of consumers (56 percent) plan to comparison
shop before buying and one in three will wait for sales to begin.
Consumers tell NPD that price drives their purchases when it comes
to electronics much more than it does for clothing and computer
software.
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Desktop Computer Computer software and clothing do not need to be discounted to
sell, in the way that products like cameras and stereos do, Cohen
said. However, consumers have come to expect that much of what they
buy for the holidays will be on sale. Overall, consumers report
being slightly less value conscious than they were last year, but
they will continue to look for bargains, since theyve been trained
over the years to buy on sale.
Notebooks While it seems retailers push holiday sales earlier each year,
this year fewer consumers report having already begun shopping.
NPDs survey finds that 27 percent of consumers had already started
shopping versus 31 percent who reported starting early in 2003;
another 24 percent plan to begin prior to Thanksgiving; just seven
percent will begin Thanksgiving weekend. Four percent say they will
wait until the last minute to begin their holiday shopping, but 32
percent expect to do at least some of their shopping at the last
minute.
Lenovo Source: The NPD Holiday Survey was fielded September 8 to
September 17, 2004. The findings presented here are based on
information from 2,372 completed interviews of members of the NPDs
online consumer panel.
Hard Drive About The NPD Group, Inc.
Since 1967 The NPD Group has provided reliable and comprehensive
sales and marketing information for a wide range of industries. NPD
provides critical knowledge on what is selling, where, to whom and
why to help our clients make more successful, fact-based business
decisions. Today more than 1,300 manufacturers and retailers rely
on NPD to help them better understand their customers, product
categories, distribution channels and competition in order to help
guide their business and positively impact sales and revenues.
Information from The NPD Group is available for the following major
vertical sectors: apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty,
cellular, consumer electronics, food and beverage, foodservice,
footwear, home improvement, housewares,
imaging, information technology,
music, software, travel, toys and
video games.
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