AAA New Mexico Survey of State's Shoppers Reveals Most Plan to Cut Holiday Budgets, But Not Gift Recipients

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--(Marketwire - November 10, 2009) - Most New Mexico residents plan to maintain their holiday gift-giving lists at the same number of people this year despite the economic downturn, but most also plan to cut their gift budgets by seeking out discounts and less expensive presents, according to a new holiday spending poll conducted by the AAA New Mexico Marketing Research Department.

The online survey also revealed that 58 percent of local holiday shoppers plan to spend less than $500 on gifts, and 86 percent plan to spend $1,000 or less.

Also, one-quarter of those surveyed said that this year they planned to change their usual shopping habits by clipping coupons and/or using a discount program such as AAA Discounts to save money on gifts.

"The effects of the economic downturn are causing New Mexicans to be more careful with their holiday gift shopping budgets by seeking out coupons and discounts such as those available through AAA membership," said Denise Bialek, the Program Manager of AAA Discounts. "The AAA Discounts program has added several new retailers this year that already provide discounted prices, such as the Gap Outlet stores and Kmart.com, allowing members to save even more when gift shopping."

Popular techniques for saving money this holiday shopping season, according to the holiday spending poll, are:

1) Finding less expensive gifts (38 percent)

2) Ordering online to take advantage of free shipping for gifts that must be mailed (36 percent)

3) Doing more research to make sure of getting the best price (32 percent)

4) Using store coupons and/or obtaining discounts through programs such as AAA Discounts (25 percent)

5) Shopping more at discount stores (24 percent)

6) Buying the same amount for the kids but cutting back on the amount spent on adults (14 percent)

Two-thirds of New Mexico residents in the AAA survey planned to do at least some holiday shopping online, but shoppers still plan to spend half of their gift budgets in retail stores.

The most popular holiday shopping destinations for New Mexicans this year, according to the poll, will be discount stores (67 percent), followed by online retailers (66 percent), retail department stores (49 percent), membership stores (40 percent), shopping mall stores (37 percent), electronics stores (34 percent), and print catalogs (24 percent). Just five percent of those surveyed planned to do at least some holiday shopping at a luxury brand or upscale department store.

The most popular items on gift-buyers' lists this year are apparel and accessories (62 percent), followed by gift cards (60 percent), books (54 percent), toys (41 percent), DVDs/videos (38 percent), music (33 percent), consumer electronics (26 percent), jewelry (25 percent), computer hardware/software (19 percent), and sporting goods (19 percent).

"With the exception of gift cards, AAA members can take advantage of deep discounts on all the most popular gift categories through AAA Discounts' participating businesses such as New York & Company, many outlet stores like Banana Republic and Reebok outlets, and online retailers through the AAA Discounts shopping link, www.AAA.com/discounts, including BarnesandNoble.com, BlueNile.com jewelers, DELL and Target.com," Bialek said.

More information about AAA discounts is available at www.AAA.com/discounts or at any AAA New Mexico office, where members can get the new Member Savings Guide featuring holiday discounts and special offers.

Contact Information: Contact: Dan Ronan (469) 583-7070 (cell) Sarah Schimmer (713) 284-6552