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Britt Beemer America's Research Group articles most recent first Furniture Buying Index Falls in May Consumers Shift Spending To What They Need, Not What They Want Furniture Buying Index Drops Two More Points; Wal Mart Expands Home Furnishings In Midst of Sluggish Furniture Sales Beemer - Many Retailers In Free Fall After Disappointing December August Retail Sales Surge; Home Furnishings, Accessories Lag behind Expert Predicts Back-to-School Spending to Grow Meagerly in 2007 Retail Shopping Takes A Holiday Early Indications Are For A Frugal First Quarter Independent Retailers Outperformed Chain Stores In December Britt Beemer Lowers Forecast of Christmas Retail Sales to 2.7% Rise Over Last Year; Lack of “Must Have” Item to Blame Want To Drive Shoppers Away? Decorate Stores Less and Don’t Say “Merry Christmas” 2006 Q4 Shoppers Study Revealing; Cyber Monday a Hoax, Biggest Retail Push Will Be After December 15th 10 Trends For Retail Christmas 2006 Survey; Parents Cite High Gas Prices As Primary Reason For Limiting Back To School Spending Families Reduce Summer Spending As Gas Prices Rise Or Was It? New Survey Casts Doubt On Rosie Black Friday Survey; Bargain Hunters Drive June Results Top 10 Retail Stores For April; Discounts Drive Traffic Survey Says Americans Extremely Optimist About The Future 37% Of Shoppers Noticed Less Christmas Decorations In Stores; Spent Less As A Result America’s Research Group; Shopping Levels Increasing But Still Expected To Be Lackluster 3.2% Over 2003 Lack Of Hot New Product Weighing Heavily On Holiday Shopping Survey Of Thanksgiving Weekend Shoppers; "We're Not Impressed"; 45% Say Discounts Not Enough Britt Beemer’s Christmas 2004 Sales Forecast; 19% Will Spend More Since Bush Was Reelected Seven Things Your Store’s Appearance Tells Your Customers Britt Beemer Cites Convenience As Key To Drawing Male Shoppers Beemer Lowers Christmas Sales Projection to 4.2% Increase This Year Compared To His Earlier 4.8% Sales Increase survey 31.0% of Americans Who Planned to Shop Thanksgiving Weekend Did Not Get Around To It Study Shows 11% Increase In Consumer Spending For Appliance, Electronics, Computers Britt Beemer Predicts 4.8% Increase In Holiday Spending survey Furniture Leads All Categories For Shopping Levels Over Labor Day Weekend survey Consumers Plan to Spend 10% More on Back to School Furniture Buying Index Up One Point Buying furniture is on consumers’ minds, but not a top priority Shopping Is Not a Big Priority for Many Americans The Incredible Shrinking Customer Base How Loyal is Your Customer? The Loyalty American Consumers Have Towards Brand Products

By America's Research Group

"America’s Research Group expected Christmas sales to be up 3.2% over a year ago. We stand by that Christmas sales estimate"
America’s Research Group

Store shopping levels exploded this weekend with over half of America, 54.9%, hitting the stores. Shopping levels Friday were not good, with Saturday flat to up slightly, but Sunday shoppers left Church and spent, and spent, and spent big dollars. So far this shopping season, this Sunday has been the biggest day for shopping increases over the last two years. These increased Sunday shopping levels resulted in 54.9% shopping this weekend compared to 43.3% last year and above the normal shopping level of 46% to 52% two weekends out before Christmas.

Wal-Mart led the charge with 52.1% shopping there this year compared to 53.4% last year; but keep in mind that 53.4% were from a 43.3% base while this years 52.1% is from a 54.9% base of American households.

Target was the subsequent loser with only 12.1% shopping there this weekend compared to 30.3% last year for this same weekend.

JCPenney continues to win with big early bird specials getting 17.3% shopping there this year and only 15.3% last year. Sears cools slightly with only 21.0% shopping there this year compared to 24.6% last year.

Electronics continue to lead all categories in growth percent ages with 21.6% buying electronics compared to 20.5% last year. Toys slowed with only 36.2% buy this category this year compared to 41.5% last year.

Gift cards also picked up this weekend with 36.0% buying gift cards to this point compared to 32.8% last year. However, only 11.5% plan to buy gift cards the rest of the season compared to 13.8% last year.

Consumers found something for themselves this weekend with 39.7% having bought something special compared to 36.4% last year at this time.

With shopping levels higher this weekend, 43.8% of households have completed or virtually completed all their Christmas shopping compared to 40.6% last year.

On-line shopping has also exploded this Christmas with 31.8% going to the Internet for their Christmas giving with last year on-line shopping hitting at a 23% level.

Consumers found their shopping gene this weekend. With 95.1% realizing they have only one weekend left, shoppers made Christmas gift giving a bigger priority.

As stated earlier in November, America’s Research Group expected Christmas sales to be up 3.2% over a year ago. We stand by that Christmas sales estimate.

America’s Research Group interviewed 800 shoppers on Sunday evening, December 12, 2004. This study has an error factor of +/- 4.3%.