by Robin Fiedler
After a long weekend kicking off holiday shopping, the hot gift items are being tallied. Predictions that electronics, netbooks, toys and video games would be top sellers are being confirmed as popular gifts for the holidays, but surprises are increased activity for sporting goods and jewelry online sales.
MSNBC reports, "Deeply discounted electronics such as flat-screen TVs, game systems and netbooks were popular, but more practical items such as appliances and home decor were also big sellers, as consumers took advantage of sales to buy things for themselves." Buying gifts for ourselves contradicts an earlier prediction by NRF that we crossed ourselves off the gift list. 
Nintendo Wii remains one of the top game systems. JC Fletcher of Joystiq reports that Nintendo estimates last week's sales totaled 550,000 Wii systems and 1 million DS and DSi systems. Fletcher attributes the popularity to DS bundles and low discount prices. He adds, "By selling that many handhelds, Nintendo broke its own sales record for the holiday weekend!" For Wal*Mart's Cyberweek, prices for the DSi bundle are $189 and DS lite bundle $169.
E-readers are popular, but the two that battle for the top are Kindle and Nook. According to CNNMoney, "Amazon.com spokesman Craig Berman said its wireless Kindle e-reader was the 'best-selling item across all of Amazon's product categories on Monday.'" Barnes and Noble's Nook is on backorder. "Don't expect any special deal on Barnes & Noble's 'Nook' eBook reader, which industry experts peg as one of the hottest products this holiday season," says CNNMoney. Current orders won't be delivered until after the holiday--sometime in early January.
Apple's iPod is faring pretty well. Berman said Amazon "sold out of its Cyber Monday deal of the day, which was an 8GB iPod Touch for $158." Also sold out, the Zhu Zhu pet continues to be hot, hot, hot, so hot that consumers are buying them "on Amazon through third party vendors" for $40-60, according to CNNMoney, when they normally retail for $9.
A Black Friday survey of consumers by the National Retail Federation (NRF) indicates 33% of holiday shoppers bought toys, up 13% from last year. Sporting goods sales, personal care beauty gifts, and gift cards increased from 1.2% to 3.4%. The NRF also noted strong sales of apparel and books, but the sales were flat, remaining the same as last year.
Coremetrics, a company that measures e-commerce and marketing, reports online sales increased for apparel and jewelry. "Apparel retailers and jewelry retailers reported the biggest jumps in the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order, up 28.6 percent and nearly 25 percent respectively." Online traffic increased for department stores and sports gear, but "the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order actually decreased by 7.2 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
The increased interest in sporting goods may indicate Americans' desire to get in shape. So after watching TV on our new flat screen, beating our latest video game, and reading a bestselling book on our new e-reader, we are planning to hit the slopes for a little snowboarding. Don't lose that new gold bracelet on the expert slope!
Sources
"Black Friday Spending Rebounds, Reports Coremetrics." Coremetrics 28 Nov. 2009.
"Cyber Monday Sales Rise 20 Percent Over 2008." MSNBC. 30 Nov. 2009.
Fletcher, JC. "Nintendo Gives Thanks for Plenty of Holiday Week Hardware Sales." Joystiq. 30 Nov. 2009.
Grannis, Kathy. "Black Friday Verdict: As Expected, Number of Shoppers Up, Average Spending Down." National Retail Federation. 29 Nov. 2009.
Kavilanz, Parija B. "Cyber Monday Shoppers: 4 Million Per Minute." CNNMoney 30 Nov. 2009.
COUPON TIME
For the best deals on all the holiday gifts you're shopping for, start your shopping here at Ultimate Coupons. Scroll down the main page to find an alphabetical listing of every store we've got coupons for. Or use the left-sidebar menu to choose by category. Either way, you won't miss out on great savings when you start shopping with us.
