Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

According to the NRF, holiday shoppers are expected to spend an average of $155.43 on gift cards, the highest amount since 2007 and up from $145.61 in 2010. This holiday season, total spending on gift cards will reach $27.8 billion. “With discretionary gifts expected to be popular, many consumers will view gift cards as an ‘everyday value item,’ affording their loved ones the option of buying something they really want or need,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

Getting restaurant industry operators and consumers on the “green” bandwagon is necessary to minimize the impact that restaurants have on the environment in the future, according to a recent Mintel report, just more than half (57%) of respondents are willing to pay more for local and sustainable fare. Although still a small percentage of patrons are impacted, local or organic ingredients are particularly of interest to those living in Western states.

The family orientation of U.S. Hispanics extends to restaurant dining, according to The NPD Group. Slightly over 40% of restaurant visits by Hispanics include children compared to 30% of non-Hispanic visits, based on the latest findings from NPD’s “CREST Hispanic foodservice market research. Hispanic restaurant consumers indicate they would visit restaurants more often if their children are made to feel welcome.

Just over half of Americans (51%) say they will be purchasing toys as gifts this holiday season, and as one might expect, whether there is a child in the household does impact purchase intent. When it comes to the toys children will be unwrapping this holiday season, it seems books, video games and arts and crafts projects will top the list. Over half of toy purchasers will be mostly shopping for toys at large discount stores (56%), while over one-quarter (27%) will mostly shop online for toys this year.

Consumers continue to look for value in today’s turbulent economy, but more often value when purchasing automotive parts is determined by quality rather than low price, according to auto aftermarket research by The NPD Group. New research finds that consumers are increasingly more interested in purchasing automotive parts that are of the highest quality and will last the longest time whereas their interest in purchasing the least expensive parts has declined.

According to the seven in ten U.S. adults (71%) who consider themselves holiday cooks, there are a number of challenges that arise when preparing holiday meals, according to a new survey of over 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Ipsos. Looking ahead to this coming holiday season, many of their meal planning concerns are the same, with cooking multiple dishes at the same time being the top concern (22%).