Report: Holiday shoppers waiting until post-election

The upcoming United States presidential election is so tumultuous that it’s influencing shoppers to pull back holiday shopping plans.



With the election falling in the middle of holiday shopping, many U.S. consumers said they will have a more conservative holiday spending budget this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer spending survey, a report that tapped 7,733 consumers about holiday shopping plans.



Specifically, more than a quarter of consumers say the election will im-pact their spending plans for the holidays. In addition, 43 percent say they are being more cautious with their spending due to the uncertainty of the election season, according to a separate flash poll conducted the week of Oct. 17, 2016.



However, when push comes to shove, 87% of consumers could be con-vinced to spend an extra $25 this holiday season if tempted by a good sale or promotion, the perfect gift for themselves or others or free ship-ping, the poll revealed.



“Everywhere you turn — whether you’re picking up a newspaper or watching television — political advertisements are taking up ad space that retailers typically use to get holiday shopping on the minds of con-sumers across the country,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Once the election has passed, we anticipate consumers will pull themselves out of the election doldrums and into the holiday spirit.”



Overall, consumers plan to spend an average of $935.58 during the holi-day shopping season, an amount that will cover gifts for others, self-spending, food, flowers, decorations and greeting cards for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Total planned spending this year is second only to the record total spending in 2015, at $952.58, according to NRF’s an-nual consumer spending survey.



However, consumers remain value-centric. As a result, they will shop around, splitting their time almost evenly between three top destinations in search of the most value: department stores (57%), online (57%) and discount stores (56%). Another 45% plan to visit a grocery store/supermarket, 34% will shop at clothing stores, 27% at electronics stores and 23% at small or local businesses. Ten percent of shoppers plan to visit outlet stores, a new category added to the survey this year.



Most online shoppers (93%) will take advantage of free shipping and conveniences like buy online, pick up in store or ship-to-store (47%). In addition, 17% will take advantage of expedited shipping, and 10% will use same-day delivery, the report showed.



Close to half of consumers (46%) have been tackling their holiday lists early again this year, with 41% saying they started shopping in October or earlier. The same percentage said they will start in November, and 18% will wait until December. Of the early shoppers, 63% say they are trying to spread out their budgets, while 49% want to avoid the crowds and stress of last-minute shopping.



“While many holiday shoppers are starting early on their gift lists, mil-lennials are waiting to catch the best deals for their gifts, with nearly half waiting until November to start shopping,” Prosper Insights principal an-alyst Pam Goodfellow said. “Younger consumers are likely to be looking forward to the Thanksgiving/Black Friday shopping ‘experience’ — and know that retailers will be offering great promotions that weekend.”



Armed with incentives, 58% of consumers plan to buy for themselves, spending an average of $139.61, up 4% from last year’s $133.74 — and marking the second-highest level of personal spending in the survey’s 13-year history.




“Many shoppers are taking the approach of ‘one for you, two for me’ this holiday season,” NRF’s Shay said. “Retailers are preparing by offering a wide array of merchandise and promotions — items shoppers want to give as great gifts at prices so good they want to buy for themselves too.”