Holiday Shopping:  Fast Facts, Forecasts

* When asked what gifts they want to receive this holiday season, 19.47 percent of adults in an online survey chose home furnishings. BIGresearch conducted the survey Oct. 5-12 for the National Retail Federation. What ranked higher on respondents’ wish lists?

Gift certificates - 56.97 percent
Clothing or clothing accessories - 48.21 percent
Books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games - 47.26 percent
Consumer electronics or computer-related accessories - 33.82 percent
Jewelry or precious metal accessories - 22.98 percent

* In the same NRF survey, U.S. consumers estimated that they plan to spend an average of $688.87 on holiday-related shopping, a slight rise from last year’s $681.83. The largest portion of their budget will be gifts for family ($393.55) and friends ($71.45). Decorations, greeting cards, postage, candy, food, flowers and gifts for co-workers will command the remaining dollars.

* According to an online survey from VeraQuest, 60 percent of adults age 18 or older said they plan to use cash already on hand or regular income to pay for gifts this holiday season. Forty-three percent will tap savings, and 15 percent will use retailer layaways. More than a third said they plan to use credit cards or personal lines of credit.

* Hasboro celebrates the 75th anniversary of its beloved property trading game by releasing two new editions: Monopoly: Revolution Edition, which features a round game board and property values adjusted for current prices (players collect $2 million, not $200, when they pass “Go”), and Monopoly U-Build, which lets the players control the length of the game by creating their own game track.

* Online retail sales in the United States this holiday season will increase nearly 16 percent over last year, according to a report by Forrester Research Inc. Overall holiday sales, meanwhile, will increase 13 percent, the report states. Consumers in November and December will spend $51.7 billion for online purchases, with much of the growth to come from affluent buyers, the report says. Eighty-seven percent of U.S. consumers with an annual income of $100,000 said they plan to spend more or the same amount of money online as they did last year. Consumers earning less are less likely to spend as much online this year as last year, according to Forrester.