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Yahoo! BuzzMINNEAPOLIS, Dec 3, 2008 – A recent Best Buy nationwide survey[1] found that three-quarters of Americans, while concerned about price, say that getting someone the right gift is their number one priority. In addition, when it comes to consumer electronics gifts, customers say assurance and advice are top priorities when they are making purchase decisions.
The Best Buy survey shows one out of four consumers (25%), believe the right gift this year is consumer electronics, and price isn’t all that drives their decisions. When buying electronics gifts, shoppers want a retailer that offers a good return policy (85 percent), post purchase technical support (80 percent), price matching for their purchases (79 percent) and knowledgeable salespeople to provide good advice (76 percent).
In addition, the survey found almost half of Americans (49%) like to buy electronics or gaming systems for people on their lists because they believe these items will get a lot of use. The most popular gifts include game consoles or video games (58%), portable music players (45%) and digital imaging items (41%) with kids and teenagers the most likely to receive an electronics gift this year.
For those consumers looking to incorporate technology into their holiday traditions this year, nearly three-quarters (74%) of families will choose to watch movies together, more than six in ten (62%) will share digital photos, almost one-third (30%) will play interactive games like Guitar Hero or Wii, and 15 percent plan to connect virtually with family and friends.
Additional findings from Best Buy’s holiday gift giving survey reveal:
- While price points are a concern, the person that consumers would spend the most on include a spouse, partner or significant other (36%). One-fifth (19%) say they would spend more on a child under 12 years of age. When making an exception to spend more on that one person, the budget averages between $100 to $300 for the majority (54%) of consumers.
- About one-third (30%) of consumers said they will give more gift cards this year than they have in past years.
- Men are much more likely to wish for gaming items (29% vs. 7%); women are much more likely to wish for digital imaging items and portable music players.
- Men are twice as likely as women to say their “special someone” is difficult to shop for (31% vs. 15%)
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and China, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $40 billion annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy, Audiovisions, The Carphone Warehouse, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Jiangsu Five Star, Magnolia Audio Video, Napster, Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers, The Phone House and Speakeasy. Approximately 165,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way we do business at Best Buy. In fiscal 2008, we donated a combined $31.8 million to improve the vitality of the communities where our employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuyinc.com.
About Geek Squad
Geek Squad is the first national 24-hour technology support task force. Roughly 20,000 active Geek Squad technicians patrol Geek Squad precincts in all U.S. Best Buy stores, all Canadian Best Buy stores and at Geek Squad stand-alone store locations. For more information, please visit www.GeekSquad.com.
About the Survey
The results contained in this report are based on telephone interviews conducted from November 21-23, 2008. A total of 1,004 interviews were completed with 526 female adults and 478 male adults. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3 percentage points and is higher for subgroups.
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[1]GFK Custom Research North America, November 2008