Survey: Consumers to spend 4.1% more than 2017 during winter holidays

(KFVS) - The National Retail Federation reports consumers will spend more than $1,000 during the holiday season in 2018 compared to 2017.

According to the annual survey released by the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics, this is up 4.1 percent.

Consumers will spend in three main categories during the holidays - $637.62 in gifts, $215.04 in non-gift holiday items such as food, decorations, flowers and greeting cards and $154.53 in other non-gift purchases that take advantage of deals and promotions throughout the season.

The NRF reports 55 percent of consumers will shop online and in department stores while 51 percent will go to discount stores, 44 percent to grocery stores, 33 percent to clothing stores and 24 percent to electronics stores.

They say most holiday shoppers, 60 percent, are waiting until at least November to start browsing and buying items for the season. However, 21 percent planned to start in October and 18 percent said they start in September or earlier.

For the 12th year in a row, the NRF says gift cards remain the most popular items on wish lists. They were requested by 60 percent of those surveyed. That’s followed by clothing and accessories at 53 percent, books/movies/music at 37 percent, electronics at 29 percent, home decor at 23 percent, jewelry at 22 percent, personal care or beauty items at 19 percent, sporting goods at 18 percent and home improvement items at 17 percent.

The survey of 7,313 adult consumers was conducted in October 1-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

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