Bostonians expected to spend more than rest of country this holiday season
BOSTON – 'Tis the season: for good food, family, travel and gift-giving.
And it seems, each year, that stores devise a plan to get you to reach into your wallets a little earlier than you usually do. (I know I'm not the only one that started getting holiday sales e-mails, right after Halloween!)
WBZ-TV is taking a look at how Bostonians plan to spend this holiday season and how it compares to the rest of the nation.
"It's really interesting—planned holiday spend in Boston is expected to be around $1,883. That's per household and that's about 14% higher than the national average spend," said Anthony Jardim, with Deloitte.
Jardim's team surveyed a sample of 404 people in the Boston area, about holiday spending.
Shoppers were asked if they go into the season with a set budget.
"I freestyle. I don't go in with a budget. I look, I see it and it costs what it costs," Curt Chiverton said.
When it comes to how Bostonians are spending those dollars, online shopping leads the way. But, Jardim said their holiday survey shows that holiday consumers loyalty to their favorite stores still runs deep.
"So, spending their dollars at their favorite retailers is something that we've seen, and that was about 76% of those surveyed in the Boston area," Jardim said.
And if you haven't gotten started yet, don't worry. It looks like a lot of other Bostonians haven't either.
"Not yet, I'm a procrastinator!" Machon told WBZ.
"So, that's what I'm doing right now!" Chiverton added.
"I'm going to start shopping soon – the holiday season is coming up and with some sales!" fellow shopper Evan Cole said.
Speaking of sales, Deloitte's Holiday Survey shows that most of the holiday spending is going to happen during Thanksgiving week.
That means Black Friday, leading into the following week with Cyber Monday.
So if you can, hold on to your coins just a little bit longer until sales hit the shelves.