An estimated 10 percent of today's $2.6 trillion retail market is being spent to buy gifts for one person to give to another. For retailers that means one out of every ten customers in their store has a gift shopping need. For marketers, it offers them the potential to expand their business by meeting the unique needs of the gift buyer.

In today's hyper-competitive environment, market research is not an option; it is a necessity. Unity Marketing has been at the forefront of market research on the gifting market and now we offer an even better way for retailers and marketers to get up close and personal with the gift shoppers - a tracking study of the gifting market, Gift Tracker.

Beginning in June 2005, and every three months thereafter, Unity Marketing will measure the pulse of the gift consumer in a longitudinal survey of 800 gift buying consumers. Every quarter we will track what gifts they bought during the past quarter, what gift occasions and holidays stimulated those purchases, how much they spent per holiday and occasion, where they bought gifts, the store and product brands they relied upon for gifts and their expectations for future purchases of gifts.

Track Future Shifts in the Gift Market Before They Actually Start to Impact Your Business

Gift Tracker gives retailers and marketers that rely upon the gift market the ability to track the ups and downs in gift purchases in real-time and discover how their target market expects to spend buying gifts over the next three months. In addition to the four quarterly tracking studies, marketers also receive a year-end summary of luxury gift consumers' purchases and spending on the seven major gifting holidays, like Christmas, Mother's Day and Easter and twelve gifting occasions, including birthdays, anniversary, wedding, friendship, showers, housewarming and other.

Gift Tracker is a cost-effective way for gift retailers and marketers to monitor their brand awareness and usage among their target market. It will keep them up on the latest gift giving trends, what consumers want as gifts today and what they are likely to want to buy as gift tomorrow. Gift Tracker gives marketers the data they need to predict changing patterns of gift shopping consumer behavior before it occurs, so they are ready with new products and marketing initiatives before the changes and shifts in consumer behavior start to gain traction.

Gift Tracker is a vital tool for marketers and retailers to gain more insight and understanding about the gifting market from the nation's foremost expert on the mindset of the gift shopper, Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - as well as the Classes (Dearborn Trade Publishing, January 2005).

Gift Tracker Measures Gifting Purchase Behavior among 800 Targeted Respondents

• Every three months Gift Tracker will survey 800 consumers who bought gifts to give to other people during the last quarter. The gift consumers will be segmented into groups according how many gifts they buy and how much they spend on gifts throughout the year, so that purchase behavior of the more casual, occasional gifter can be compared to the more active, passionate gift giver. A full analysis report will be delivered to subscribers every month that reports not just on the previous quarter's gift purchases and spending but predicted spending and purchases for the coming quarter. This will give marketers heads up on the trends emerging in the market that will take hold in the coming months.

Syndicated Study Is Customized to Allows Gift Marketers and Retailers to Add Questions to the Survey, as well as Their Brand and Their Top Competitor Brands
Every quarter subscribers receive an analysis report about purchases, spending and shopping choices, including gift and retailer brand awareness and usage. Using Unity Marketing's gifting consumer survey as a foundation, subscribers can add their specific product categories into the survey, their store names, and other specific elements to make the research report meet their specific needs. Categories included in the Gift Tracker survey include:

• Consumables, such as food, candy, wine, gift baskets, etc.
  
  
• Clothing and/or fashion accessories, such as handbags, shoes, wallets
  
  
• Jewelry and watches
  
  
• Personal care products, such as cosmetics, perfumes, bath products, etc.
  
  
• Home furnishings and household operations products, such as home furnishings, decorative accents, housewares, home textiles, china, glass and tableware, small household appliances, outdoor accents, etc.
  
  
• Giftables, such as flowers, candles, figurines, collectibles, greeting cards, stationery, seasonal decorations, and other popular gift items
  
  
• Entertainment and/or recreation goods, such as books, toys, sporting goods, video/audio, DVD's and entertainment equipment, photographic equipment, computers, games, etc.
  
  
• Store Gift certificates and/or gifts of cash
  
  
• Gifts of experience, such as: spa treatments, dining and restaurants, vacations, trips, etc.
  

What Subscribers Get:

Subscribers will receive:

Annual Subscription: $7,500

Major Findings

More Information

Gift Tracker 3Q2006

Gift Tracker 2Q2006

Gift Tracker 1Q2006

Gift Tracker 4Q2005

Gift Tracker 3Q2005

Gift Tracker 1Q & 2Q2005