Riverwoods, IL, November 20, 2006
– Discover
® Card today released its
inaugural Holiday Shopping Survey, assessing consumers'
spending trends and patterns for the 2006 holiday
season. The findings show that a majority of shoppers
plan to spend up to $500 this holiday season and
one in four intends to spend from $500 to $1,000.
The survey revealed that shoppers have
robust plans to make their money go further this
holiday season by finding different ways to save
money, including actively looking for sales on
wanted items, shopping throughout the year, and
setting a budget in advance. Shoppers are feeling
confident that they can buy the gifts they want
and stay within their holiday budget this year.
Key survey findings include:
- Over
half (55 percent) of consumers plan to spend up
to $500 on gifts with more than a quarter (27
percent) planning to spend from $500 to $1,000.
- Over
half of respondents (54 percent) actively look
for sales and other incentives to make their money
go further while sticking to a holiday budget.
Consumers find multiple approaches helpful in
meeting their budget: allocate a specific dollar
amount for everyone on their list (48 percent),
spread out holiday purchases throughout the year
(42 percent) or set a total budget in advance
(42 percent).
- Ninety-one percent
of shoppers are confident that they can stay within
their expected budget.
"The Discover
Card Holiday Shopping Survey focuses on defining
important spending patterns and choices consumers
are making during the busiest shopping period
of the year, while providing valuable insight
to merchants and shoppers,” said Margo Georgiadis,
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer,
Discover Financial Services. “We found consumers
are confident in spending this holiday season,
and using smart planning to give great gifts while
sticking to a holiday budget that works for them.”
Shoppers Plan on Spending the
Most Money on Electronics, Apparel
Discover Card's Holiday Shopping survey also
revealed popular spending categories this year:
- Electronics (25 percent) and apparel
(23 percent) are the top places consumers plan
to spend the most money this holiday season.
- Home
and entertainment items are next in line, with
15 percent planning to spend the most money on
home items, and 13 percent planning to spend on
entertainment such as movies and restaurants.
- Only
six percent plan to spend the most money on travel
and only five percent plan to spend on jewelry.
Department
Stores and Malls Reign Supreme, but a Third Prefer
Shopping Online While brick
continues to wins out over click, nearly a third
of consumers plan to make the web their top destination
for 24/7 holiday shopping.
- Sixty percent
of respondents plan to shop in a department store
while 51 percent said the mall.
- Thirty-one
percent of all respondents will buy at least one
holiday gift online. While most online shoppers
(78 percent) prefer the web because it's open
around the-clock, 52 percent turn to the keyboard
to avoid lines, and almost half (48 percent) specifically
seek out online sales and promotions.
“Regardless
of what they buy and where they shop, Discover
Card helps Cardmembers make their money go further
this holiday,” said Georgiadis. “Cardmembers
can enjoy multiple opportunities to earn cash
rewards, including 5%
Cashback Bonus®
on restaurants, movies, books and music through
our popular Get More program, instant $20 gift
cards when they spend $200 on their Discover Card
at 80 participating malls across the country,
and 5%-20%
Cashback Bonus when they spend
at top online retailers on our new shopping portal,
ShopDiscover.”
Some Manage Their
Money Better Than Others Discover
Card's survey also revealed young shoppers may
need some budgeting advice from their older peers.
- Eighteen-to-24-year-olds are the most
likely to bust their budgets: more than one-quarter
of these shoppers (27 percent) say they usually
spend more than they can afford when shopping
for holiday gifts for family and friends.
- Furthermore,
18 to 24 year olds are more likely than any other
age group to spend first, worry later, at 13 percent.
About
the Discover Card Holiday Shopping Survey
For Discover Card's Holiday Shopping Survey,
a telephone survey was conducted with a total
of 1,053 nationally representative adults (531
males and 522 females). The research was conducted
from October 20-23, 2006 by Opinion Research Corporation.
About Discover Financial Services
LLC Discover Financial Services
LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:
MS), operates the Discover Card with more than
50 million Cardmembers, and the Discover Network
with more than 4 million merchant and cash access
locations. Discover Financial Services also operates
the PULSE ATM/debit network, which serves over
4,200 financial institutions and includes almost
250,000 ATMs and approximately 3.4 million POS
terminals. For more information, visit
www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or
www.pulse-eft.com.
# # #
Media Contact:
Mai-Lee
Ua
Public Relations
(224) 405-3082
maileeua@discoverfinancial.com