More holiday shoppers use debit, check cards

According to the NRF’s 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 39.1 percent of consumers expect to use their debit/check cards most often during holiday shopping. That’s up from 34.3 percent in 2005.

One in three people will rely on credit cards for shopping. For the first time in two years, the number of people using cash at the register has dropped, from 28.5 percent in 2005 to 24.3 percent this holiday season. Few consumers – 6.2 percent – will write checks for holiday purchases, down from 9.1 percent in 2005.

“With full schedules, many people find it hard to carve out time in their day to get their holiday shopping done,” said Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, in a news release. “Time-strapped shoppers enjoy the convenience of debit/check cards when out shopping for holiday gifts, eliminating the need to make an extra trip to the bank or ATM to withdraw money.”

While some smart shoppers have begun to check off items from their lists, retailers have not yet begun to see the peek of their holiday traffic. While one in 20 customers have more than 75 percent of their holiday shopping done, the majority, or 68.5 percent, have completed no more than 10 percent of their shopping.

NRF continues to project that holiday sales will increase 5 percent compared to 2005, bringing holiday spending to $457.4 billion. Among the key items likely to be purchased for the holidays are clothing, accessories, DVDs, video games, gift cards, toys and consumer electronics.

The NRF 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey comprises the responses of 8,090 consumers. It was conducted Nov. 1–8 for NRF by BIGresearch.[[In-content Ad]]