BIGresearch, LLC

Although the calendar flipped to a new year this month, it appears consumers have carried over their economic concerns from 2007. According to BIGresearch’s Consumer Intentions & Actions survey for January, only 33.6 percent of the respondents are very confident or confident that the economy will be strong, the lowest total recorded since September ’05 (33.4 percent, post-Hurricane Katrina). The recent survey polled more than 8,000 consumers. Here are some more noteworthy findings: * 41.2 percent indicated they plan to become more practical and realistic in their purchasing, up from last month (40.3 percent) and January ’07 (39.6 percent); * 49.9 percent are focusing

On the eve of Halloween, a recent survey suggests the holiday is doing little to scare consumers from spending. According to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers spent more on Halloween this year. Survey respondents indicated they would spend an average of $64.82 on Halloween items, compared to $59.06 last year. The survey, conducted Sept. 4-11, polled 8,877 consumers. Here are some interesting findings of the survey. * The average person will spend $23.33 on Halloween costumes; * Young adults ages 18-24 plan to spend the most — $34.06 on costumes and $19.65 on candy; *

According to STORES magazine’s inaugural Favorite 50 survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers are drawn most to Web sites that offer a variety of choices. Topping the publication’s rankings for customers’ favorite online retail companies was Amazon.com, whose broad product array connects with consumers. Following Amazon’s site was another site full of possibilities, eBay.com. The rest of the top 10 is below, followed by a list of all catalog companies ranked in the top 50. 3. WalMart.com 4. BestBuy.com 5. JCPenney.com 6. Target.com 7. Kohls.com 8. Overstock.com 9. Google.com 10. Sears.com The following catalogers were also on the list (followed by actual rank): LandsEnd.com (13),

BIGresearch’s September Consumer Intentions & Actions survey of more than 8,000 consumers shows that 6.9 percent plan to spend more this holiday season than they did last year. Here are some more of the survey’s findings: * 37.4 percent say they’ll spend the same this holiday season as last year; * 30.9 percent plan to spend less this year, up less than a percentage point over last year (30.2 percent) and down almost four percent from 2005 (34.7 percent); * The most frequently searched products are electronics (35.8 percent), apparel (19.9 percent), appliances (19.3 percent), home improvement items (16.3 percent) and shoes (15.4 percent);

The end of summer and the return of college students is a welcome sight for marketers. Students and families are expected to spend $47.3 billion in back-to-college purchases this year, according to a recent National Retail Federation’s 2007 consumer intentions survey, conducted by BIGresearch. Here are some of its findings: * Students and parents are expected to spend a combined average of $956.93 on back-to-college merchandise, up from last year’s average of $880.52; * Spending on textbooks will exceed $15 billion; * Spending on clothing and accessories is expected to jump to $7.41 billion, up from last year’s $5.78 billion; * Students and

Although a U.S. Commerce Department report on Aug. 13 showed that retail sales edged up 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted from June and increased 3.1 percent unadjusted year over year, consumer confidence has declined this summer. This is due to a combination of slumping housing sales, a negative consumer savings rate, a declining stock market and the ongoing war in Iraq. Following a surge in July, when the confidence rating was the highest its been in six years, early August’s level is sinking. In a survey conducted by BIGresearch, 43.8 percent of consumers contend they are very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy

Temperatures across the nation are not the only things rising this summer. So is Americans’ back-to-school-shopping fever. With a little more than a month of summer vacation left to go for most students, a new study by BIGresearch based on the new National Retail Federation Consumer Intentions and Actions Back-to-School survey found that families with school-age children expect to spend nearly 7 percent more on back-to-school merchandise this year, an estimated average of $563.49 compared to last year’s average of $527.08. Here are some of the survey’s findings. * Total back-to-school spending this year is expected to reach $18.4 billion. * Electronics will see

The unsettled situation of the war in Iraq and high gas prices at home have many consumers less than confident in the nation’s economy. This has led them to focus on buying needs over wants during the past month. These factors coupled with a shaky housing market led to lower than normal consumer confidence in the economy ratings, according to a report released by BIGresearch. The findings of the report are as follows. • 43.9 percent of consumers are confident/very confident in chances for a strong economy, down almost a point from May (44.7 percent); • 19.6 percent of consumers continue to worry about

Consumers plan to spend considerably more on Mother’s Day gifts this year compared to last. The National Retail Federation’s 2007 Mother’s Day Consumer Actions and Intentions survey, conducted by BIGresearch, shows that the 84.5 percent of respondents who said they intend to celebrate Mother’s Day will spend an average of $139.14 on mom, compared with last year’s average of $122.16. Below are some other findings from the survey, which drew nearly 7,900 responses. * 37 percent of respondents said plan to buy apparel; combined, they’ll spend nearly $1.6 billion on clothes and accessories * 32.8 percent who said they would buy jewelry will spend $2.1 billion

A recent survey by BIGresearch shows that more and more consumers are doing their own product/shopping research online prior to making purchases. The survey revealed that 89.4 percent of consumers regularly or occasionally research products online prior to buying them in a store. Among the findings by individual product category are the following: 41.1 percent said they’re most likely to research electronic items; 19.8 percent appliances; 19.7 percent medicines/vitamins; and 16.1 percent home improvement items. For more information, go to www.bigresearch.com .