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Britt Beemer America's Research Group articles most recent first Beemer Predicts Retail Train Wreck Consumers Postponing Major Purchases; Jewelry Hardest Hit 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

Cyber Monday is a hoax. The Cyber Monday theory was that consumers would rush to make purchases on-line on the Monday after Black Friday either to get better prices or to order from their computer at work. Neither is true.
Britt Beemer, Founder and CEO, America's Research Group

Shoppers are making it clear to retailers that they want bigger bargains and are willing to wait for them, according to the Christmas shopping survey conducted by America's Research Group (ARG) over the December 2-3 weekend. Of those shoppers (32.9%) who are waiting to finish before December 24th, a whopping 81.6% said they are waiting to get more gifts on sale at 50% off. This compared to 66.2% in both 2005 and in 2004 and 62.2% in 2002.

As for on-line shopping, C. Britt Beemer, founder and CEO of ARG says, “Cyber Monday is a hoax.” Only 18.5% went on-line this past Monday compared to 17.8% last year. Only 14.8% of consumers say they will go on-line to find a better price after shopping at stores. This compares with 22.4% of consumers who went on-line last year to find a better price. The Cyber Monday theory was that consumers would rush to make purchases on-line on the Monday after Black Friday either to get better prices or to order from their computer at work. “Neither is true,” Beemer asserts.

Looking at the most recent data, Beemer emphasized that the 2006 Christmas shopper is the biggest bargain-hunter he has seen in twenty years of consumer research on Christmas sales. “I’ve never seen such bargain-driven shoppers,” he said. Based on data from ARG’s first Christmas shopping survey in mid November, Beemer predicted that “sales should increase at a 3.1% level this year.”

Wal-Mart was the #1 store on shoppers’ lists this weekend with 43.1% going there, but JCPenney had the best gains over last year to 28.1% in 2006 from only 16.6% in 2005.

Gift cards proved to be the hottest gift item this year with 42.1% of consumers having already purchased them and another 20% planning to before Christmas. In 2005, only 24.8% had bought gift cards by this time, with 17.5% expecting to buy them before Christmas.

The big shopping push in 2006 will be after December 15th, as 37.7% of consumers don’t expect to finish their shopping until December 20th and another 32.9% don’t expect to be done until December 24th.

Consumers still feel dissatisfied with the way stores are being decorated for Christmas. Over 40% (40.8%) say that stores are not decorated as much today as in years past, up from 23.8% last year.

ARG surveyors interviewed 800 adults between Saturday and Sunday, December 2-3, 2006. The study has an error factor of plus or minus 4.3%. ARG will conduct two more Christmas retail surveys.

America's Research Group is the consumer behavior marketing firm that provides clients the insight, strategy and tactics to increase market share. America's Research Group's expertise in consumer behavior has made it a key resource and advisor to leading brands and top retailers in the nation for 27 years.

Contacts: Britt Beemer, ARG, tel: 843 345 0939 BBA Communications: Barbara Burns/ Eve Edwards Tel: 212 486 1140 / 516 859 3402