Holiday Shopping Focus Shifts From Malls To Internet
By Brian Williams on Monday, November 26th, 2007 :: 4:45 pmCategory: Financial News
First, holiday shopping traffic at the malls. Now, holiday shopping traffic online.
The post-Thanksgiving weekend saw crowds of shoppers at malls and stores trying to score the best deal. Now, many of those people are back to work or at home, and will try to snag some deals online as retailers await the first rush of holiday shopping via the Internet.
This so-called phenomenon is called “Cyber Monday,” according to the National Retail Federation. Retailers is trying to attract the online shopper with deals.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start to the holiday shopping season offered some mixed news for retailers. A survey by the NRF and conducted by BIGresearch concluded:
- More than 147 million shoppers went to stores during the post-Thanksgiving weekend, up 4.8 percent from a year ago.
- Consumers spent an average of $347.44, down 3.5 percent from a year ago.
- 72 million Americans plan to shop online on Cyber Monday
However, it remains to be seen how holiday sales will shake out with several economic concerns, such as a jittery housing market and credit crunch, worrying Americans.
One trend in holiday shopping is that consumers seem to debit and check cards are more popular than credit cards as a popular purchase tool, according to another NRF survey done through BIGresearch.
Slightly more than 40 percent of the respondents plan to use debit and check cards for holiday purchases, which is up from 39.1 percent last year. Prospective credit card users for holiday purchases total 32.3 percent, the NRF said.
Shoppers using any kind of plastic for currency should be wary of identity theft concerns, especially when making purchases on the Internet. You should always safeguard credit card receipts or debit card receipts so nobody can still any pertinent information.
Credit cards, while containing high interest rates for purchases, offer more protection against fraudulent purchases than debit cards tied to your checking account.
If you plan to use a credit card for holiday purchase, spend only what you can pay back when the bill comes so you won’t accumulate interest charges on the revolving debt.
Author bio: Brian Williams, a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, has 11 years’ experience writing and editing at daily newspapers in Texas. Learn more about MyUSADebt. MyUSADebt is your alternative to debt consolidation.
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