$300 Billion to Be Spent on Holidays, With 63% Shopping Direct or Online

Updated on Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 10:05 am

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New York, New York - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - October 31, 2005 - Americans plan to spent nearly $300 billion on gifts this holiday season - with 63% of shoppers buying via catalogs, the Internet, mail, or phone as a matter of convenience.

Recent data gathered by the Direct MarketingAssociation (DMA), says that Americans plan to spend $299 billion on holiday gifts thisyear. Americans are flocking tocatalogs, the web, and stores to find items on their holiday gift lists. DMAprovides the following statistics about how much people are spending, whatthey are buying, and how they will do their shopping this season.

Who is buying?
— More than two-thirds of Americans - 70% - shop from home, buying from catalogs, over the Internet, over the phone, or through the mail.
— Seventy-two percent of women shop from the home or office, compared to 66% of men.
— Ninety-seven percent of Americans plan to shop for holiday gifts in 2005.

How much will they spend?
— American adults plan to spend a total of $299 billion on holiday gifts in 2005 - an average of $1,373 per person.
— Men plan to spend $1,515 on gifts, while women plan to spend $1,240.
— Americans plan to spend an average of $211 on Apparel gifts this holiday season. Other popular gifts include Food ($195), Electronics/Computers ($187), General Gifts ($172), Toys and Games ($149), Home Decor or Furniture ($124), Books/Music/Videos ($101), Sporting Goods ($63), Tickets for Sports/Entertainment ($60), Pet Supplies ($47), Flowers ($35), and Gardening Supplies ($30).
— Consumers and businesses will spend $133 billion on catalog purchases in 2005, an increase from $126 billion last year.
— The average catalog shopper spent $142 per order in 2004, and purchased an average of four items per order.
— The Internet will generate nearly $284 billion in sales of all products and services in 2005, up from $243 billion in 2004.

What do they buy?
— Nearly two-thirds of catalog shoppers - 65% - buy apparel from catalogs. Other popular catalog purchases include Gifts (40%), Books/Music/Videos (37%), Home Decor or Furniture (26%), Toys and Games (24%), Electronics (23%), Sporting Goods (21%), Gardening Supplies (14%), Food (12%), Flowers (12%), and Pet Supplies (11%).
— Books/Music/Videos are the most popular online purchases, with 55% of online shoppers buying these items on the Internet. Other popular items purchased online: Apparel (48%), Travel Services/Airline Tickets (47%), Gifts (44%), Electronics/Computers (43%), Tickets/Sports and Entertainment (33%), Toys and Games (31%), Home Decor or Furniture (21%), Sporting Goods (19%), Flowers (16%), Pet Supplies (10%), Food (7%), and Gardening Supplies (6%).

When do they shop?
— Twenty percent of shoppers plan to buy all of their holiday gifts before Thanksgiving.
— An additional 31% of shoppers will finish their gift buying two weeks before the holiday. Forty-six percent wait until the final week to complete their shopping, with 23% finishing the day before the holiday.
— Men are more likely to procrastinate, with 51% finishing their shopping the final week compared to 41% of women.

Why do they shop from home or office?
— Sixty-three percent of shoppers cite convenience as the reason they shop via catalogs, the Internet, mail, or phone. Other reasons for shopping from home or office include variety (36 percent), to save money (34 percent), and customer service (20 percent).

To learn more about holiday shopping, please visit The DMA’s consumer site at: www.shopthenet.org.