Who is buying?
- Seventy-one percent of Americans shop from home, buying from catalogs, over the Internet, over the phone, or through the mail.
- Forty-seven percent of Americans have made online purchases, an increase from 36% one year ago.
- The average catalog shopper is married (63%), female (71%), 51 years old, has a household income of $53,000, lives in the suburbs (45%), is employed outside of the home (58%), and has a spouse who is employed (69%).
- Forty-four percent of catalog shoppers also shop online.
How much do they spend?
- American adults plan to spend a total of $189 billion on holiday gifts in 2003 -- an average of $906 per person.
- Men plan to spend an average of $990, while women plan to spend an average of $831.
- The average catalog shopper spent $149 per order during the 2002 holiday season, versus $135 per order a year before.
- Americans will spend $133 billion on catalog purchases this year, an increase from $126 billion last year.
- The Web will generate nearly $41 billion in sales in 2003, up from $32 billion in 2002.
What do they buy?
- Forty-nine percent of catalog purchases made in December 2002 and January 2003 were intended as gifts.
- Thirty-six percent of Americans buy apparel from catalogs. Other popular catalog purchases include Gifts (27%), Books/Music/Videos (24%), Home Decor (19%), Toys & Games (15%), Sporting Goods (13%), Electronics (12%), Gardening Supplies (8%); Flowers (6%), Food (5%), and Pet Supplies (5%).
- Books/Music/Videos are the most popular online purchases, with 31% of Americans buying them online. Other popular items purchased on the Web: Travel Services/Airline Tickets (29%), Gifts (28%), Apparel (23%), Electronics/Computers (21%), Tickets/Sports & Entertainment (20%), Toys & Games (18%), Sporting Goods (12%), Flowers (11%), Home Furnishings (11%), and Food (5%).
When do they shop?
- Nineteen percent of shoppers plan to buy all of their holiday gifts before Thanksgiving.
- Seventy-four percent of people plan to finish their shopping in the two weeks before the holiday, with 44 percent waiting until the last week and 21 percent finishing the day before the holiday.
- How often do they shop?
- Catalog shoppers place an average of 14 orders per year.
- Americans make an average of four purchases each year from their favorite catalogs.
- Fifty-six percent of shoppers keep catalogs they order from for at least three months or until a new copy arrives.
Why do they shop from home?
- Sixty-six percent of shoppers cite convenience as the reason they shop via catalogs, the Internet, mail, or phone. Other reasons for shopping from home or office include variety (39 percent), to save money (35 percent), and customer service (21 percent).