In a CouponCabin-sponsored survey, 77% of consumers said they could find better deals after the holidays than during them, and 51% said they plan to take advantage of such deals to make large purchases.
As they consider their options in the period beyond the main holiday shopping season, consumers overwhelmingly pointed to big-box stores such as Costco, Target and Walmart as having the best post-holiday deals, CouponCabin said, with department stores such as Macy’s and Kohl’s following. Online retailers ranked third. Furniture stores were at the bottom of the list.
Just over half of survey respondents said they use cash or gift cards they received as presents in the weeks immediately following the holidays, while the rest prefer to save them for later. Shoppers in the Midwest and Southwest are more likely to save gift cards, while those in the Northeast tend to put them to use right away.
About six in ten shoppers have exchanged a holiday gift to buy themselves something else, CouponCabin indicated. On average, consumers exchange more than 20% of their received gifts. Apparel is at the top of the exchanged items list, along with electronics, beauty and jewelry as common categories for returns.
