HOLIDAY SHOPPING TRENDS; Bath & Body Works Polls Consumers and Store Associates About the Hectic Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday season is upon us. As consumers make their holiday shopping lists, stores are preparing for the retail frenzy that's about to begin. As part of its preparations, Bath & Body Works studied consumer purchasing habits and trends by polling consumers around the country, including their store associates, to give the company a unique edge into the psyche of today's consumer.

Bath & Body Works commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct an online Omnibus survey of 1,851 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. Here's what was found:

-- Over Half of holiday shoppers begin their shopping between Thanksgiving
and mid-December
-- 42% can be considered "early starters" as they start shopping before
Thanksgiving
-- 7 out of 10 holiday gift purchases occur in-store, while less than 22%
are purchased online
-- 68% of holiday shoppers admitted to returning or re-gifting a gift (66%
of men admitted to this, while 67% of women did)


To study in-store shopping patterns, Bath & Body Works conducted an internal survey of its Store Associates at locations across the country and discovered that:

-- 29% of all Store Associates have seen customers fight over the last
item left
-- 54% of Store Associates have witnessed customers come in to "do their
makeup" and "put on fragrance" right before attending a holiday party
-- The majority (81%) of Store Associates said that consumers become
crazier about their shopping on Black Friday rather than Christmas Eve
-- 78% of Store Associates said that shoppers line up outside before the
store is open during the holiday season


The Store Associates poll also uncovered some unusual and strange requests made by consumers during the holiday season. Store Associates reported that:

-- Men ask for advice in buying presents for their wives and mistresses
(many men have actually bought the same present for both women)
-- Many consumers ask if they can take home the store's holiday
decorations
-- Customers ask store associates to baby-sit their children as they shop


By exploring the ways consumers shop during the busiest retail season of the year from two different perspectives, these surveys offer unique insight into one of the most important barometers of the American economy. For additional statistics and anecdotes from both consumers and Bath & Body Works store employees, please contact Melissa Palmieri or Heather Kleinert at Tractenberg & Co., 212.929.7979.