Holiday shoppers in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee are getting an early start this year and are ready to spend more money on gifts, according to a recent AAA Consumer Pulse Holiday Shopping survey. More than half of holiday shoppers (51%) have already started buying gifts, compared to 46 percent this time last year.
While the majority of consumers (62%) plan to spend the same amount of money on presents as last year, 14 percent of them plan to spend more money, a 40 percent increase from 2011. More than half of holiday shoppers (57%) plan to spend between $251 and $1,000 on gifts, while one in four (23%) plan to spend up to $250, according to the AAA Consumer Pulse™ survey.
Although consumers plan to spend more money this year, more than two in five shoppers (43%) plan to buy more gifts on sale. Nearly three in four will shop at discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target (73%), or plan to shop on the internet at sites like eBay and Amazon.com (72%).
People plan to forgo crowded stores this year as well, with more than half of consumers (58%) planning to shop during Cyber Monday. Meanwhile, there’s a 10 percent decline in people who plan to shop on Black Friday for a total of 46 percent of shoppers.
For more information on the survey results, visit HERE.
