Oracle: One in four consumers to start holiday shopping this week

New York City -- One in four consumers will start their holiday shopping this week, according to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers conducted this fall by Oracle. The report, “Oracle Holiday Shopping Snapshot 2011,” finds that Black Friday and Cyber Monday still reign supreme when it comes to getting consumers out to shop.



In other findings:

• Forty –three percent of consumers say they have already started their holiday shopping, while plenty will hold off until the last moment.


• Twice as many men (11%) will wait until the final week of the season to shop, versus fewer than 5% of women.

No matter when consumers turn their attention to holiday shopping, retailers must be at the top of their game across all retail channels in order to capture sales, the report advises. Sixty-three percent consumers expect to do more than half of their shopping in stores, and that shopping is preceded by visiting e-commerce sites.



In all, 54% say they rely on websites to research and browse products before they buy.