Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

Pleasanton, Calif. – Nine-in-10 (89%) Millennnials want gift cards for the holidays, while 73% prefer receiving a gift card from a favorite store as opposed to receiving a specific gift. A new survey of more than 400 Millennials ages 18-28 from global prepaid card network Blackhawk Network also shows that 90% use gift cards to treat themselves to something they wouldn't normally buy or use it in part to buy a more expensive item and 90% use gift cards to treat themselves to something they wouldn't normally buy or use it in part to buy a more expensive item.

Washington, D.C. -- Over 80% (84.2%) of retailers say their standard shipping deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery will expire prior to Friday, Dec. 20, according to Shop.org’s eHoliday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Free standard shipping offers will follow suit, as nearly three-quarters (74.2%) of retailers who already have or will offer a free standard shipping promotion say their promotion will expire on or before Dec. 20. (Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation.)

Reston, Va. -- U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the first 45 days of the November-December 2013 holiday season totaled $37.8 billion, according to comScore. For the first time ever, the most recent workweek saw five individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.4 billion.

Washington, D.C. – The Washington, D.C., city council has reportedly unanimously approved an increase in the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 per hour in 2016, up from the current hourly rate of $8.25. According to Reuters, after being raised to $11.50 the minimum wage would then be indexed to inflation.

New York -- The majority of American shoppers think that holiday discounts advertised by retailers are faked, according to a survey conducted by British marketing consultant David Rawlings.

Rawlings’ Google survey, "Before-Christmas sales — Do you believe the discounts are genuine?," queried 1,500 American Internet users, and found that more than 70% of those polled answered "no" to that question.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Most Walgreens stores will be open until midnight through Christmas Eve, and most stores will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including 1,600 24-hour locations. On Christmas Day, most non-24-hour stores will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Seattle – Starbucks anticipates record purchases and activations of Starbucks cards on Thursday, Dec. 19. Last year, more than 2 million Starbucks cards were purchased in the U.S. and Canada on the Thursday before Christmas, representing nearly 1,500 cards purchased per minute in the U.S. and Canada.