The Black Friday shopping madness will predictably be less vibrant this year as a new survey found two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans will not be hitting the stores this year on the most popular shopping day. According to new Consumer Reports Holiday Poll, nearly thirty-four percent said they'll shop online during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and an equal number will shop online on Cyber Monday.
However, people are still excited about the holiday season and are in the holiday spirit. The survey finds that 9 in 10 are looking forward to the holiday season, including 26 percent who are really looking forward to it.
"Our poll revealed that Americans have a mostly positive outlook on this year's holiday season and by-and-large aren't letting the economic malaise of the past few years dampen their spirits," said Tod Marks, Consumer Reports senior editor and resident shopping expert.
The Consumer Reports Holiday Poll also revealed other signs of Americans' optimism heading into the winter holidays. When asked to take into account recent events in the country in the past year, such as the state of the economy and the recent presidential election, 84 percent said that they expected the upcoming holiday season to be at least as happy as it was last year. The Great Recession clearly had a financial impact: 51 percent said that they spend less money during the holiday season than they did before the recession.
"However, it's clear that the recession took a toll, as many consumers told us they spent more conservatively, and gave fewer and less-lavish gifts than they did before it hit, for example," Marks noted.
According to the survey, 57 percent of Americans are yet to begin shopping for holiday gifts as of mid-November, versus 43 percent who have gotten started. Nearly 52 percent of Americans will be on a budget this holiday season compared to last year's 41 percent. However, 36 percent said they spent more than they budgeted for last year. Thirteen percent of those who used a credit card to purchase gifts last holiday season have yet to pay off all of their debt. Americans will charge a median amount of $375 to their credits cards this holiday season.
