Reports: Retailers shift from discounts, but shoppers are still looking for holiday deals

Dive Brief:

Consumers plan to maintain their level of spending this year, but will be researching products and prices ahead of time, according to this year’s holiday spending report from NPD Group. Shoppers are keen to find out about products from users and reviews, more so than from salespeople, the report found.
The “majority” of holiday shoppers plan to maintain their level of spending. But more shoppers this year (15%) than last (12%) plan to spend more, and fewer (16%) plan to spend less than last year. Some 20% of shoppers last year planned to spend less than the year before. The mean amount spent is up 5% from last year, for a mean of $619.
Meanwhile, a survey from PriceWaterhouse Coopers found that shoppers are keeping last year’s steep discounts in mind, and that they’re expecting good deals again this year. Some 87% of shoppers say price will be the biggest factor in their holiday purchase decisions, up 3 percentage points from last year.

Dive Insight:

Retailers have been working hard to steer shoppers away from discounts, but holiday shoppers this year may not let them, these surveys show. Some retailers are establishing lay-away plans early and holiday merchandise is appearing in some stores, but shoppers may be willing to wait for things to go on sale.

"The consumer has been permanently conditioned to expect significant discounts," according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. retail and consumer Steven Barr. "Since the economic recovery has been sluggish and episodic, retailers can come to this season with strategies to not go promotional, but it only takes one or two to begin going promotional.”

Consumers are finally seeing a bit of a windfall from lower gas prices, but they’re not necessarily plowing that into purchases of more things, according to NPD, especially those in lower and middle income brackets.

While the economic recovery has boosted employment and eased some consumer worries, the continuing problem of stagnant wages and, perhaps as a result, some lingering concern about the recovery is keeping shoppers careful about spending.

Deloitte earlier released similar research indicating that stagnant wages are tempering shoppers’ spending appetite.

One way to get shoppers to buy, perhaps even at full price, is to have merchandise that can’t be found easily elsewhere, experts told Business of Fashion.