It's Too Early . . . or is It?

By Darrin Conroy -
Yesterday, the 12-year-old in my house reminded me that it was just two months until Christmas. It dawned on me that I'd not yet heard a single holiday song in a store, nor have I seen aisles of pharmacies or supermarkets turned over entirely to that season. I thought this to be a big change from recent years, when I began to think that the Halloween season had been absorbed in to Christmas, much like how small towns in the country wake up one morning to find out that they've become a suburb to a big city.

Coincidentally, I would up reading this press release heralding the 2009 Online Buyer Economic Trends Study from Performics. This firm conducts consumer surveys every six months regarding their attitudes towards spending. This survey focused specifically on holiday shopping.

Its findings include:

- Almost 20% of the respondents had begun their holiday shopping in mid-September;
- Nearly 75% of shoppers plan on buying fewer items overall; and
- Friends, co-workers, and extended family are likely not to receive gifts like they had in the past.

There's a lot more in the report. Information on obtaining a copy can be found in this press release. It's free of charge, and would make a nice gift for your coworkers.

And Happy Halloween, everybody.

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