Consumers slow to start Holiday shopping

Retailers who are concerned that holiday sales aren't living up to expectations needn't worry: shoppers are off to a slow start. According to the National Retail Federation's 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, most consumers (71.4%) have less than ten% of their holiday shopping completed. Young adults 18-24 are the least prepared with three-fourths of them (76.2%) finished with less than 10% of their shopping.

According to the survey, debit and check cards will be king again this year with 40.1% of shoppers relying on them to make purchases this holiday season, up from 39.1% last year. Additionally, about a third of holiday shoppers (32.3%) will primarily use credit cards for holiday purchases. As electronic transactions begin to replace traditional methods of payment, only 5.5% of shoppers plan on using their checkbook, and 22.1% will use cash. 

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg