WASHINGTON–The 2009 holidays will be the season of the “serious bargain hunter,” according to a statement from the National Retail Federation.
A survey by the trade group found that U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday-related shopping this year, down 3.2 percent from last year’s average of $705.01. More than half of the respondents told NRF that sales and price discounts or everyday low prices will be the most important factor when deciding where to shop during the holidays. More than 70 percent said discounters will be their most likely channel for shopping for the holidays, although nearly 56 percent said they would shop in department stores (multiple answers were possible for this question).
“While the last holiday season was filled with chaotic confusion, adjusting to uncertainty has now become routine for many Americans,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF’s president and chief executive officer. “This holiday season will be a bit of a dance between retailers and shoppers, with each group feeling the other out to understand how things have changed and how they must adapt.”
NRF also said its Port Tracker, which follows traffic to the nation’s ports, indicated that retailers would compensate for the upcoming soft sales by cutting back on inventory. This report found that traffic to the country’s ports scaled back to levels not seen since 2003.