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Survey: Holiday shoppers divided over bargains

December 8, 2010

The third wave of StrategyOne's Annual Holiday Shopping Index — examining the "Bricks vs. Clicks" divide — finds that 74 percent of Americans feel that the easiest way to complete their gift purchases is online, while 87 percent feel that brick-and-mortar stores do a better job of putting them in the holiday spirit.

However, when it comes to finding the best deals overall, Americans are divided — with 52 percent stating they found the best deals online, while 48 percent say they could find the best deals in retail stores.

From its recent public opinion poll of 1,052 Americans, StrategyOne, a Daniel J. Edelman strategic research and polling firm, also found that 54 percent of Americans think shopping online is the best way to ensure their spending doesn't exceed their holiday gift budget.

"Online retailing has quickly and increasingly become a crucial segment of the holiday shopping season, which can be seen in the growing popularity of Cyber Monday as well as the significant Thanksgiving Day online spending," said Bradley Honan, senior vice president of StrategyOne. "But clearly, there are still aspects of the retail experience, like the holiday spirit, that can't be matched online."

Overall, 59 percent of consumers said they preferred to do their holiday shopping in stores. However, that perspective varies among different income groups — with 51 percent of consumers who earn $75,000 or more a year preferring to gift shop in stores, compared with 63 percent of consumers earning between $25,000 and $40,000 a year.

The StrategyOne Holiday Shopping Index seeks to better quantify consumer attitudes and perceptions surrounding this year's holiday shopping habits and how consumers' specific shopping plans will evolve over the course of the season.

The Index declined last week to 76.5 from 83.8 the week before, indicating that three in four holiday shoppers still have presents to buy and have not made firm decisions about what they will purchase.

The StrategyOne survey also found that U.S. consumers are disappointed this season by the lack of bargains in stores and surprised by higher-than-expected retail prices. Sixty-eight percent said there were not nearly enough low prices, and 45 percent experienced sticker shock with prices that were generally higher than they expected.

"With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, a substantial number of consumers have begun to make their holiday purchases," said Honan. "However, the market remains largely open for retailers and marketers to reach their target audiences across all channels of the retail marketplace, and value clearly remains a top priority for consumers this holiday season."