Kantar Media Compete's Holiday Insights survey shows that
slightly more than 40% of respondents have already begun buying
presents, with 6% already completing more than half of their
shopping for this Holiday season. This year's shoppers are slightly
behind this year when compared to last year, with 56% of
respondents having purchased no gifts yet.
Not only are fewer people shopping early, they're also prefering
to spend more in-store than online, the reverse of the previous
year. These early birds stated that they had spent an average of
$155 in-store, up from $140 in early October of last year. This
year's average in-store purchase is about 56 percent more than the
average amount spent online.
So what has been the most shopped-for items so far? Apparel was
among the most popular gifts to purchase with over a third of
shoppers buying clothing/shoes during the week of 1st to 7th
October. It is no surprise that toys and games took second place,
with gift cards coming in a close third.
Source: Kantar Media