TakeAway: Consumers are spending more on themselves this holiday season. This is boosting retailer’s sales for now but raising concern of consumer spending after the holidays.
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Excerpt from AdAge: “On Your Holiday Shopping List This Year: You”
Consumers are taking advantage of deals to snap up items for themselves and non-gift items for their families.
According to the National Retail Federation, six in 10 planned to buy non-gift items this holiday season, spending an average of $130, up from $112 a year ago.
Research from Shopper Sciences found that a majority of shoppers spent more on themselves than on friends and family during the post-Thanksgiving shopping period. And 80% of shoppers surveyed spent more than they planned to.
Some retailers are even marketing the concept of self-gifting. NRF recently highlighted J.Crew, which featured a “Gift Yourself” section on its website, along with the text “To: You, From: You.”
While self-gifting is good news in the near term, in the long term it could prove problematic.
“Many went into the holidays thinking, ‘I need a new laptop, but I’ll wait until the prices are good.’ If consumers are waiting for the holidays, that creates a challenge for retailers [trying to] pull shoppers in the other 10 months of the year. It’s a blessing during the holidays and a curse the rest of the year.”
Edit by ARK
Tags: Christmas, gift-giving
The Homa Files 
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