We've been hearing a lot lately on how well folks are doing financially. Well, that may or may not be the case.Â
A new survey by RetailMeNot.com, the largest U.S. online coupon site, finds that 71% of consumers have a dismal view of the economy. Further, 1 in 4 are worried about being able to make all the necessary purchases in the coming months. Only 3% of respondents felt that the economy is in "good shape."Â
"Our most recent survey looked at how consumers plan to shop for the remainder of the year. We believe a lackluster economy combined with high demand for discounts while shopping will lead to more frequent and higher first-time use of coupons over time," said Kristen Remeza, editor-in-chief of RetailMeNot Insider. "As shopping for the holidays -- in-store and online -- begins to gain steam, there are two other findings of note: First, nearly a third of consumers -- 31% -- intend to do their holiday shopping online in 2012. Second, 39% of consumers start their holiday shopping before November."Â
The results of the survey found these shopping behaviors for the upcoming "holiday" shopping period:Â
- 39% of respondents start their holiday shopping before November.
- Women (46%) are more likely than men (31%) to start their shopping earlier than November.
- 23% of respondents start shopping in early November, 12% wait to start shopping until Black Friday/Cyber Monday and only 15% wait until after Cyber Monday to begin shopping.
- 54% of respondents finish their holiday shopping sometime between Black Friday and when they actually give away the gift during the holidays.
- Nearly 1 in 3 respondents (32%) say they are done with their holiday shopping by the end of Cyber Monday.
- Women (58%) are more likely than men (50%) to say they tend to finish their holiday shopping after Cyber Monday.
- Nearly a third of respondents (31%) intend to do their holiday shopping online in 2012 vs. a majority who intend to shop in-store (59%).
- More than 70% of consumers (71%) think the economy is in "bad" or "terrible" shape.
- A quarter (25%) believe that the economy is in "okay" shape, and fewer than 1 in 20 think that it is in "good" (3%) or "fantastic" (1%) shape.
- Those 55 years old and over have a particularly negative view of the economy, with nearly 8 in 10 respondents (78%) saying that it is in "bad" or "terrible" shape - including 37% who think it is in terrible shape -- compared to 61% of those under 35.
- Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) feel it will be difficult to purchase things they need over the next several months.
- 4 in 10 respondents (40%) say that they should be able to get most of what they need in the coming months, but not be able to afford it all.
- Only about a third of respondents (36%) are not worried about being able to buy all the things they need in the coming months.
How they voted
Yes
Yes