BUFFALO, N.Y. — With 79 days to go until Christmas, it's time to start to think about this holiday shopping.
The accountants at KPMG surveyed more than one thousand Americans and found that people are planning to spend more per gift recipient this year: $250, up 25 bucks from last year. However, as a result, a quarter of the people surveyed also said they plan to buy for fewer people. The most common cuts were parents, in-laws, friends, grandparents and co-workers.
You may remember last year, when stores had trouble getting things in stock and having them available to ship for the holidays. We asked Executive Director of the SuppIy Chain Center of Excellence at Niagara University, Jack Ampuja, if things have improved for this year's holiday shoppers, or if people should be looking to start buying earlier than usual.
"The good news is we won't see those same kind of supply chain shortages this year," Ampuja said. "The toy industry, for example, was cut very short last year. Inventory for all the major toy companies is up signficantly, up 30% or 25% from last year, so toys will be in good stock. We've seen a lot of clothing discounted already because they overbought, so most of the things that people will be buying for the holiday season, I think you're going to find in very good supply."
Something else to watch for is the price of shipping freight from overseas, which has dropped significantly. According to Ampuja, it cost $20,000 to bring an ocean container from China to Los Angeles last year. Today, it costs only $2,550. Ampuja says that will not effect this holiday season, but it could impact prices of goods in the first quarter of 2023.