PriceGrabber: Online Shoppers Plan To Spend On CE In 2012

By John Laposky On Mar 12 2012 - 4:01am

LOS ANGELES — In a survey of online shoppers, 72 percent said they plan to spend the same amount of money or more in 2012 as in 2011, according PriceGrabber, and more than half intend to spend more on electronics products.

Fifty-one percent of respondents plan to spend the same as last year and 21 percent plan to spend more in 2012 than last year, while 28 percent plan to spend less.

When consumers were asked to select all of the items and activities on which they plan to spend more in 2012, more than half said consumer electronics and clothing, followed closely by travel and vacations, household supplies and dining out. Twenty-nine percent said they will spend more on furniture, books or DVDs, followed by jewelry, toys, events, sporting goods and fitness memberships.

When those who plan to spend more were asked to select all of the reasons why, 36 percent cited confidence in the economy, and another 36 percent said that they expect retailers to offer better discounts this year. Thirty percent indicated that they are earning more money in 2012, 6 percent said that they are tired of being frugal, 5 percent cited a credit limit increase, and another 5 percent have found employment in the past year.

When the respondents who plan to spend less this year were asked to select all of the reasons why, 40 percent cited increases in prices such as gas, food and necessities; 34 percent said lack of confidence in the economy. Twenty-nine percent indicated they were making less money this year, and 16 percent said they overspent during the 2011 holiday season.

“Our data shows that shoppers plan to remain optimistically cautious with their spending again this year and expect retailers to continue to offer deals and incentives on products,” said Graham Jones, general manager of Price- Grabber. “We expect retailers will continue to roll out a number of tactics, such as free shipping, larger discounts and online-only promotions to help win the consumer dollar this year, while implementing strategies that will span brickand- mortar, online and mobile shopping platforms to entice consumers to shop.”

Forty-six percent of survey respondents indicated that they plan to use daily deal sites, such as Groupon, Living Social or PriceGrabber’s local deals category, more often in 2012 than in 2011. When consumers who plan to use these sites more frequently were asked to select all of the categories they will search the most, 53 percent said food and dining, 46 percent said shopping, 42 percent said entertainment and events, and 34 percent said family and kids.

When asked how they plan to shop in 2012, 45 percent of PriceGrabber survey respondents said they will combine online, brick-and-mortar and mobile shopping. Forty-two percent said they will shop mostly online, 12 percent will shop mostly in brick-and-mortar stores, and 1 percent will shop primarily from a mobile device. According to the survey, the average shopper will make 53 percent of his or her overall purchases online, 42 percent from brick-and-mortar stores and 5 percent from a mobile phone.

Conducted from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13, the survey includes responses from 933 U.S. online shopping consumers.