Dec 1, 2015

Holiday Shoppers Avoiding Plastic This Season By Tim Hodson

While holiday spending is expected to be somewhat flat this year, one thing’s for sure: cash is king for consumers.

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend an average of $805.65 on food items, decorations, gifts and more celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa in 2015.

And when they make their purchases, they plan to pay with cash or debit cards according to the latest Bankrate Money Pulse survey. Thirty-nine percent plan to use cash while another 31 percent will use their debit cards. Only 22 percent plan to put the bulk of their holiday purchases on a credit card.

Overall, the NRF’s Holiday Consumer Spending Survey says average spending will only increase by about $3. But the $805.65 figure is the highest amount in the NRF survey’s 14-year history.

Spending on gifts for family members will total $462.95, up from $458.75 last year and also a survey high.

The holiday rush is on … we’ll find out in January just how accurate these predictions are.

You’ve Still Got Time

If you are looking for information on growing poinsettias, you should head to the University of Florida’s Poinsettia Field Trials that take place next Tuesday (Dec. 8) in Gainesville.

Jim Barrett and his research team trialed 150 poinsettia varieties this year and more than 6,000 poinsettia plants will be on display in the UF greenhouses. There will also be educational sessions on using PGRs and pest management for poinsettias during the daylong event.

Click here to register to attend or for more information on the UF poinsettia trials.

– Tim

Santa Reporting for Duty
Santa Claus is coming to Wal-Mart. Actually, an army of Santas will be showing up. This is the first holiday season that the retailer is offering an in-store experience with Santa. He will appear in 3,600 Wal-Mart supercenters this weekend (Dec. 4-5) and next weekend (Dec. 12-13). The stores will also feature food tastings, toy demonstrations, caroling and other “holiday retailtainment” as it battles online retailers like Amazon.com.

Depot Continues to Climb
The Home Depot recently announced that its third-quarter sales climbed 7.3 percent and its stock price hit an all-time high. In a recent call to investors, executives at the company attribute the surge to the rebounding housing market nationwide, not just in specific regions; continued growth in online sales; improved profit margins; and increased customer traffic and transactions. The home improvement retailer expects overall sales to increase nearly 5 percent this year.

Lowe’s Names New Marketing Chief and Strategy VP
Last week, Lowe’s announced that Marci P. Grebstein was promoted to chief marketing officer. Most recently, Grebstein was vice president of advertising. She reports to Michael A. Jones, chief customer officer. The company also announced that Erin K. Sellman has been promoted to senior vice president of strategy, insights and planning responsible for corporate strategy, consumer insights, and the planning and process organization. She also reports to Jones.