Shopping Technology

Holiday Shopping Survey from American Express: 100% of Women Say They Will Give Gifts

By Mary Hall | November 16, 2010

Pictured: The Rotunda at Union Square’s Neiman Marcus in San Francisco (photo by Prakhar.)

My credit card company American Express (think no finance fees + rewards =me) recently released their 2010 Spending and Savings tracker report. This survey takes the pulse of American consumers, and shows us yet again that Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars. According to the study, the inhabitants of my plant, the Venusians, are ready, locked and loaded to shop this holiday season. “The average American will spend $710 on holiday gifts this year with that figure nearly doubling to $1,384 among those who earn $100,000 or more per year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. Women will particularly power the holiday shopping season with 100 percent of those surveyed planning to hit the stores; to the contrary, 12 percent of men have no holiday shopping plans,” notes the American Express report. Ok, it’s not a surprise that women power the holiday season. We are the ones reading blogs, cutting coupons, looking at the Black Friday ads and hitting the malls at ungodly hours.

The most fascinating part of the study to me (a survey 2,100 consumers) is how differently men and women go about saving and trying to budget for the gift giving season.

Savings Strategy	Women	Men
Shop for clearance or sale merchandise	77%	55%
Clipping coupons	67%	46%
Buying only for people on their list	53%	43%
Re-gifting	16%	9%

Pictured: Research from the 2010 American Express Spending & Saving Tracker

This just confirms what I have always known in my heart, women feel better about shopping when they feel like they are getting a bargain or something on sale. It’s very emotional for us. We want to feel like we are thrifting, even when we are spending. In contrast, men will buy more on impulse, or when it’s convenient. I have never seen a guy friend, boyfriend or male family member shop with a coupon. What do you think readers? Does your partner/husband or boyfriend track the deals? Well, maybe a few, if they are deals on big screen TVs, PCs or an iPod Touch. Just say’in.

So watch this space readers, as I’ll be compiling the deals through out this holiday season. Here are a few I have my eye on:

* Lanvin for H&M: The french design house launches their budget line with H&M on Nov 20th in the US & Canada, and Nov 23 in Europe.
* e-Bay is really gearing up for the holiday season. Their prices are competitive with major retailers, and they are now offering coupons. You know all the Toys from Black Friday sales will turn up on eBay right away, and then they will be sold out at Toys R Us and other retailers. eBay becomes the black market for toys. Click here to get all the cool new eBay coupons for savings, on well, everything.
*In-Style’s holiday coupons. Check out the deals and coupons on the In-Style site. I just discovered this via an ad, and there as some good deals here.
* Black Friday deals. It goes without saying that if you have the inner strength and good shoes, you might be able to snag some good deals the day after Thanksgiving. Of course, Black Friday is now almost of whole month of savings, really look at the prices and compare using a tool like NexTag or BizRate. Follow the Black Friday deals online to see all the specials.
* Gettington: Have you heard about this website and catalog store? I found out about them at BlogHer. Their Black Friday deals start tomorrow, and they have just about everything. But here’s the unique twist on Gettington. The site show you what kind of finance fees you will be paying over time of your items. I really like that they show you how the finance charges add up. I added a big screen TV to my shopping cart, and Gettington shows the buyer how to weigh the real cost of their purchase by factoring in payment options and financing.

Pictured: An example of payment options for a big screen TV at a cost of $599.95 can double to $1,1195 with some finance fees if you don’t pay it off right away.

Stay tuned as we get closer to shopping high alert! 🙂