Most of the holiday buzz in the news is about gift-buying trends, Black Friday and Cyber Monday plans, and whether 2015 will be a year of bigger spend volume. But not much is covered about the “deck the halls” aspect that also drives retail transactions: decorations spend.
Right after Thanksgiving is when most folks start hauling out those dusty boxes and containers from attics, basements, garages, and storage units. At that point, it’s time to take stock of what needs to be replaced, upgraded, etc. Whether it’s an over-haul of your tree’s ornamental “theme” or adding a few more strands to your outdoor light show, all of that translates to retail receipts.
We polled 3,153 U.S. adults throughout November to find out who plans to purchase new holiday décor this year, and from there, we focused on the 82% (2,575) who plan to decorate for the holidays this year. Of those “decorators,” about 36% plan to spend on purchasing new decorations for the 2015 season:
Among those who plan to buy new holiday decorations, about 8% said they’ll spend “a lot” this year.
Another 20% of consumers are undecided about decoration purchasing for this year, so they could represent a persuadable audience – particularly if an item catches their eye. (Note to retailers: Decoration displays near the check-out areas might help convert these undecideds to buyers.)
Who are the likely decoration spenders? Let’s start with demographics, which don’t look substantially different from the national average in the U.S.:
- They are a little (+22%) more likely than average to be older Millennials (aged 25-34).
- They are slightly more likely to have an annual household income north of $75,000 and to be currently employed.
- Their home ownership looks close to national average; if anything they are slightly more likely to rent. Urbanicity vs. suburbs and rural dwelling is also on par with average.
So what differences did we find about the décor spenders that might explain what’s driving their purchase plans?
- There is one notable, albeit cliché demographic standout: They are somewhat more likely to be women (40% men / 60% women).
- They are 75% more likely than average to “very closely” follow trends in home design and home improvement.
- They are over 45% more likely to use Pinterest daily or weekly.
- When shopping for the holidays in stores, they are 33% more likely than average to say it’s the holiday music, decorations, and displays that they like the most about the experience.
- They are slightly more likely to plan to shop on Black Friday 2015.
- They are more likely to conduct at least 25% of their holiday shopping online in 2015.
- They are 45% more likely than others to say they have difficulty controlling their spending.
- They are 43% more likely than average to value “brand, by a little” over price when shopping in general.
- They are more likely to also decorate for Halloween.
- They are 28% more likely to be a cat vs. dog person.
Even when it comes to the tradition of decorating for the holidays, trends take hold. LED lights, trends in artificial tree colors (check out the rainbow of options at Treetopia), 3-D ornament printing, inflatables, and more have all been growing in popularity in recent years. All of this represents new retail sales opportunities for consumers who can be tempted.
