Many companies conduct surveys this time of year around consumer’s plans for the holidays. We took a look at what five leading Boston-area companies have released on the topic, including IDC, Liberty Mutual, TripAdvisor, Samuel Adams and Dunkin’ Donuts. Overall holiday shopping, travel and entertainment themes these leaders point to: people are gifting smart thanks to technology and a desire to give back, more people are traveling this holiday than last, and Boston is a hot spot for celebration.
Enjoy these 10 tweetable holiday facts!
Shopping & Gifting
- Mobile shopping warriors will account for 28 percent, or $127 billion, of overall holiday spend this year (from IDC)
- More than a third of smartphone owners (24 percent of all U.S. consumers) plan to use mobile to transform how they shop this holiday (from IDC)
- 33 percent of adults aged 18 – 29 who plan to send holiday cards will do so through social networks, vs. 15 percent overall (from Liberty Mutual)
- 59 percent of Americans plan to prepare alternative gifts, including homemade gifts and donations of time or money to charities (from Liberty Mutual)
- 48 percent of adults will be purchasing fewer holiday gifts this year (from Liberty Mutual)
Travel
- 19 percent plan to spend more and 60 percent the same on holiday travel this year as compared to last (from TripAdvisor)
- 42 percent of Americans plan to travel for the holidays this December, with 45 percent of those planning to fly and 51 percent planning to drive (fromTripAdvisor)
Food, Drink & Entertainment
- The top 3 major U.S. cities travelers plan to celebrate in for the holidays are Orlando, NYC, and Boston (from TripAdvisor)
- 60 percent of men prefer to toast with beer versus champagne if they had the choice (from Samuel Adams)
- 64 percent of US consumers each the head of the Gingerbread Man Cookie first (from Dunkin’ Donuts)
What other striking holiday data have you seen?
