Global Christmas Spending
Ever wonder what the rest of the world spends on Christmas shopping? Some studies have been conducted and the results may surprise you.
In general, the British will spend more this year on Christmas than Americans and Australians. In fact, they will spend, on average, three times more. The study conducted by the UK-based APACS discovered that holiday spending among the British will be over $109 billion for an average of about $1800 per capita.
The study also showed that debit card spending is becoming more popular in the US. Credit card and cash are still the tops, but debit card usage is seen as increasing, especially in the US.
According to a MasterCard survey, Australians will spend an average of $685 this holiday season. Americans will spend an average of $610. For US consumers, the current credit woes seem to only have marginal effects on estimated shopping.
It is estimated that about 10 percent or so of all holiday spending will be done online. This is an increase over last year. In addition, the use of gift cards is seen as becoming very popular this year. Half of the U.S. consumers surveyed and two in five in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand find gift cards as very good options for holiday giving. Gift cards can be used for both online and brick and mortar retailers. Two reasons for the increase in popularity of these cards is that they are easy to purchase and are usually easy to redeem.
Past surveys, however, have not been so kind to gift cards, detailing troubles that some people have when trying to use the cards as well as some issues on the time limits that many gift cards come with. Consumers who are contemplating the use of gift cards should read the card literature carefully before purchasing one.