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Consumers plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year, and nearly three-quarters of shoppers plan to pay for their purchases with cash or savings, suggest the results of a survey TransUnion LLC's Truecredit.com service released this week. For the research, Zogby International surveyed 2,520 U.S. adults online between Nov. 25 to Dec. 1. The results suggest 73% of consumers this holiday season plan to use cash and savings to pay for their holiday purchases, while 18% plan to use credit cards. One percent of respondents said they will use layaway plans to finance holiday purchases. According to the survey, 58% of respondents possess between one and five private-label retail cards, 5% have five to seven retail cards, and 2% have seven to 12 retail cards. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they will spend less this holiday season than they did last year, while 38% will spend the same amount and 5% will spend more than last year. Reflecting on last year's holiday spending, 59% of respondents said they spent $100 to $1,000, while 35% spent between $1,001 and $2,000 and 10% spent more than $2,000. Asked how they will control their holiday spending this season, 32% of respondents said they will buy goods on sale, 19% will restrict their payments to cash, and 12% will shop at discount stores. Some 55% of respondents said they do not feel at greater risk from identity theft during the holiday shopping season, while 29% said the holidays increase their concerns about identity theft.
