Study: Gift-spending to rise this holiday season

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 - Stevens, Pa. -- Shoppers buying gifts this holiday season will spend an average of more than $1,000 each, according to a new study from Unity Marketing.This represents an 8 percent increase over last year's average holiday gift budget of $928.So far this year, consumers have spent an average of $1,034 on gifts, 20 percent more than last year, according to Unity Marketing's quarterly "Gift Tracker" survey, which monitors gift givers' purchases.

If consumers continue buying gifts at this rate, average gift-spending could exceed $2,250 for the entire year, a 12 percent increase over last year. A quarter of consumers polled have already spent $169 on Christmas gifts, according to the survey.

Unity Marketing expects top gift categories to include gift certificates; gourmet gifts like wine, spirits and chocolate; and "little luxuries" like soaps, candles and home fragrances.The Gift Tracker survey takes quarterly polls of 800 gift-buying consumers, tracking what gifts they have purchased, why they purchased the gifts and where they bought them.