Hispanic Consumers Expected To Spend Seven Percent More This Holiday Season

A new survey from Brand Keys has found that Hispanic consumers will make this a very merry Christmas for retailers. According to their 2014 Brand Keys Holiday Shopping survey, the Hispanic shoppers will be spending seven percent more this year in comparison to last year.

“This holiday season Hispanic shoppers can make the difference between a ‘Feliz’ (happy) and ‘Feria’ (fair) ‘Navidad’ for retailers,” noted Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, Inc. www.brandkeys.com, of the New York City-based brand loyalty and customer engagement research consultancy. Brand Keys surveyed 2,417 Hispanic consumers in its 20th annual national holiday shopping survey. “Retailers need to work culturally smarter if they want to get their share of a projected individual $985.00 for the 2014 holiday spend, about 7% higher than last year, and nearly 15% higher than the projected 2014 spend by the general population."

Passikoff added that 54 percent of shoppers revealed they'll be shopping as early as November for the holidays. What's more, most of those who were survey indicated that they would be resorting to online shopping.

“Nearly half of Hispanic consumers surveyed (49%) indicated they were going to wait until Black Friday November 28,” said Passikoff, “Many Hispanics (38%) indicated they were going to wait well into the traditional holiday shopping season to buy gifts, which has less to do with discounts and more the time taken to search for the perfect gift.”

While most shoppers revealed they'll be buying at least one gift card, the Hispanic population displayed higher levels of interest in purchasing gift cards. According to the survey, there are differences between Hispanic shopping trends and that of the general population. Below are examples of how Hispanic consumers will vary from general consumers:

• Clothing and Accessories 83% +5
• Electronics/Phones/Computer 58% +7
• Jewelry 25% +5
• Food and Wine 21% +1
• Toys 15% +7
• Home Décor 10% +3
• Personal Care Products/Spa 10% -23

“Hispanic consumer expectations are up again this year regarding outreach and convenience, but particularly as regards the brick-and-mortar retail shopping experience,” said Passikoff. “Brand trumps dollar-value perceptions among this cohort and retailers that can integrate some sense of Hispanic culture and store experience with all forms of outreach will likely find it to be a winning combination for this segment of the population,” said Passikoff. “Y una muy feliz navidad este año!”