Fifty-Two Percent of Shoppers Will Spend $500 or More on Gifts This Winter Holiday Season, According to PriceGrabber® Survey

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The holiday season is just around the corner, and many shoppers across the country are well into their holiday planning and gift purchasing mode. PriceGrabber®, a part of Experian, just released additional results of its first winter holiday shopping survey, revealing that 52 percent of consumers plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this season. Thirty-six percent said they will spend less than $500, and 12 percent indicated that they do not have a budget. Conducted from Sept. 7-15, 2011, the survey includes responses from 3,070 U.S. online shopping consumers.

Clothing and gift cards rank as most popular holiday gifts

The allure of the holiday sweater appears to have returned in 2011. When asked what items they plan to purchase as holiday gifts this season (respondents could select as many choices as they liked), consumers overwhelmingly chose clothing (66 percent). This was followed by 52 percent of consumers who said they would purchase gift cards; 46 percent opting for books, CDs, DVDs or video games; 43 percent choosing toys; and 31 percent planning to buy hobby-related items. Twenty-five percent plan to purchase shoes; 23 percent food or candy; 21 percent jewelry; 20 percent sporting goods; and 15 percent cosmetics, spa packages or beauty-related gifts.

Tablets top the tech category

Of those respondents who selected electronic products as holiday gifts, the majority indicated they would purchase tablets. iPods® or MP3 players were the second most popular gift in the tech category, followed by e-book readers, cell phones or smartphones, cameras, TVs and laptops.

Consumers bet on post-Thanksgiving shopping for the best deals

The day after Thanksgiving (also known as Black Friday) has famously been recognized for years as the official start of the holiday shopping season. Consumers appear to agree that the best deals also start on this date. When asked when they believe the best deals will be available for holiday shopping, 29 percent of consumers said after the Thanksgiving holiday, 28 percent specifically indicated Black Friday (Nov. 25), another 28 percent said the month of December, and 15 percent said Cyber Monday (Nov. 28).

"Our survey findings indicate that more than half of respondents expect to find great bargains during the entire four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas," said Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber. "Shoppers will do well to cover all their bases and combine brick-and-mortar shopping with online comparison sites such as PriceGrabber and also use a mobile shopping application to take advantage of last-minute price drops."

Visit http://www.pricegrabber.com to compare products, read merchant reviews and buying guides, purchase local deals, and find coupons and rebates. Download the mobile application for smart holiday shopping on the go.

About PriceGrabber

PriceGrabber, a part of Experian, is a leading online shopping site with more than 23 million unique shoppers monthly. At PriceGrabber, savvy shoppers can instantly find and compare millions of unique products and services across 25 categories with more than 11,000 merchants. Compare products side by side to find the right retailers at the best prices within popular categories, such as Digital Cameras, Electronics, Computers, Clothing, Books, TVs and more. PriceGrabber provides shoppers with the right product from the right merchant at the best price anytime, anywhere. Visit us at http://www.pricegrabber.com.

About Experian

Experian® is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was US$4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners

SOURCE PriceGrabber