Most of Holiday Budget Will Be Spent on Electronics

TechBargains, a leading deal aggregation website for electronics products, released its 2011 Holiday Survey, revealing that despite the weak economy consumers are still buying large amounts of consumer electronics this season. At least a quarter of all consumers’ holiday gift budgets will be spent on consumer electronics with 52% of shoppers expecting to spend between $250 to $500. More than 50% of men and women surveyed plan on spending half or more of their budget on electronics, completely unimpeded by the economic downturn.

“The survey results show that even in difficult economic times, consumer electronics are virtually downturn-proof,” said Yung Trang, Editor in Chief, TechBargains. “While there’s a definite shift towards smart and more educated shopping, demand for the latest gadgets remains strong. Our survey also showed real differences between what is most important to men vs. women. Women look primarily for cost savings while men look to others for recommendations. Finally, Kindle Fire is making waves in the tablet market. The competitive price point of the device could cause consumers to steer away from Apple and look to Amazon.”

Men vs. Women

Electronics products will consume a large portion of the holiday gift budget for men and women with 39% of women and 37% of men stating that they will spend half of their holiday budget on consumer electronics. However, while they are spending significantly, they are still carefully researching before they buy. 65% of men value a recommendation from a friend as the single most important factor when deciding to purchase a product, while 73% of women said free shipping was their main priority. Both of these factors were most important to both sexes with 57% of women saying a recommendation was important and 62% of men saying free shipping was a deciding factor.

Tablets Are Hot, Hot, Hot

Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and buzz about the iPad 3 have convinced shoppers that tablets, over e-readers, are the most popular products of the season. 64% of shoppers are planning to purchase a tablet in the next six months, even though they are more expensive then e-reader options. This shows that the lower prices of e-readers are not affecting purchase plans for survey participants. According to the survey, 25% of current Apple iPad owners will purchase a Kindle Fire in the next six months. The majority (88%) of those looking to replace the iPad with a Kindle Fire say they simply like buying the newest products. Interestingly, only 34% are planning to purchase an e-reader in the next six months and 76% of those who plan to purchase an e-reader will buy a Kindle Fire, while 9% will buy a Nook Color.

“Based on our survey, the Kindle Fire has clearly set a spark in the imagination of some consumers, particularly those that are just getting interested in their first e-reader,” said Jeff Haynes, Editor of TechBargains. “If the buzz from early adopters of the device can highlight just how solid it is as both an e-reader and a cheap tablet alternative, it could become the most serious competitor to the iPad 2, which could put Apple on notice for the upcoming iPad 3.”

TechBargains provides additional helpful resources for consumers with video clips on its YouTube channel that focus on product reviews, product deals, gadget giveaways and holiday shopping tips. TechBargains also released its 2011 Holiday Gift Guide which includes 30 consumer electronic products predicted to be best selling items this holiday season.

TechBargains Holiday Survey Stat Summary

Tablets

• 67% of shoppers do not own a tablet
• 64% of shoppers plan to purchase a tablet in the next six months
• 35% of shoppers who said they will purchase a tablet want to buy an iPad 2, 32% want a Kindle Fire
• 36% of Apple iPad owners do not plan to purchase a new tablet within the next six months
• 26% of Apple iPad owners plan to purchase an iPad2 in the next six months
• 25% of Apple iPad owners plan to purchase a Kindle Fire in the next six months
• 88% of shoppers planning to replace an Apple iPad with a Kindle Fire say it is because they like purchasing the newest product
• The majority of shoppers (59%) planning to purchase a new tablet to replace their old one are doing so because they like purchasing the newest product

E-Readers

• 76% of shoppers do not own an E-reader
• 34% are planning to purchase an e-reader in the next six months while 66% are not
• 76% of those who plan to purchase an e-reader will buy a Kindle Fire, 9% will buy a Nook Color
• 29% of shoppers who already own a Nook e-reader plan to purchase Nook Color, 21% plan to purchase a Kindle Fire
• 53% of shoppers who already own a Kindle e-reader plan to purchase a Kindle Fire in the next six months compared to 17% who will buy an iPad2

Men

• 37% say half of their holiday shopping budget will be spent on consumer electronics
• 22% say a quarter of their budgets will go to consumer electronics
• 27% say 75% of their holiday budget will be spent on consumer electronics
• 51% of men plan to spend less on consumer electronics this holiday season due to the slow economy
• 42% of men say it hasn’t affected how much they will spend
• Male shopper value a recommendation from a friend as the most important factor in deciding to buy a product with 65% calling it important
• Free shipping was also a major factor in purchasing a product with 62% of men calling it important
• Men were most likely to buy a tablet this holiday season (39%) and least likely to buy an e-reader (17%)

Women

• 39% of women said they would spend half of their holiday budget on consumer electronics
• 27% said they will spend 75% of their budget on consumer electronics
• 46% said they will spend less on consumer electronics due to the slow economy
• 45% said it will have no affect on how much they spend
• Free shipping is top priority with 73% of women saying it is important when deciding to buy a product
• A recommendation from someone ranked high with 57% of women saying it was important
• 68% of female shoppers do not own a tablet, but 42% plan to buy tablets within the next six months
• Women were most likely to buy a tablet this holiday season (40%) and least likely to buy a gaming console this holiday season (19%)

About TechBargains

Founded in 1999, TechBargains is a deal aggregation website that combines unbiased expert hand-curation and a real-time price/value discovery algorithm. Over $150 million worth of products were sold via TechBargains over the last year. 80% of the people that visit the site are repeat visitors and they give TechBargains a 98% customer satisfaction rating. TechBargains is actively pursued by manufacturers based on the quality of channel and sales achieved. The company is a top partner to Dell, HP and NewEgg. For more information visit www.techbargains.com or join the conversation on Twitter @techbargains or Facebook.com/techbargains.com.