Retail / news
Deloitte survey: 28% of holiday budgets to be spent by end of October
A Deloitte holiday shopping survey of 4,000 U.S. consumers finds 22% plan to start buying earlier than last year, with 28% of budgets expected to be used up by the end of October — the highest share in six years.
The consulting firm's annual holiday shopping survey points to a season that begins well before the traditional Thanksgiving weekend rush. Roughly 28% of shoppers' gift budgets are expected to be spent by the end of October, the largest share recorded in six years of the study.
Alongside the earlier start, 22% of respondents said they intend to begin their holiday shopping sooner than they did a year earlier. Consumers are also spreading purchases beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shifting more of their spending to other points in the season.
"In general, shoppers are becoming much savvier and thoughtful about how they maximize their dollars," said Brian McCarthy, a principal in Deloitte's strategy and analytics practice, in a phone interview.
The findings come from a survey of 4,000 U.S. consumers conducted between Aug. 26 and September.
For retailers and their supply chains, the pattern means demand is stretched across a longer window rather than concentrated in a few promotional days. Merchants are holding enough inventory to cover October through December and are putting best sellers on shelves ahead of Black Friday rather than waiting for the event itself.