Chocolate, toys and turkey dinners top Taiwanese Christmas shopping lists this year, several retailers said yesterday.
"We sold out more than 1,000 turkey dinners in one day today," said Fiona Wang (
In the last week alone, RT-Mart sold nearly 2,000 of the pre-made turkey dinners priced at NT$799.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
With Christmas falling on a weekday, families are more inclined to celebrate the holiday at home rather than dining out, Wang said.
And while family budgets may have tightened this year, kids are still king of the holiday season.
Over the weekend, the toy department at Pacific Sogo Department Stores (
"On Sunday the store sold NT$60,000 worth of stuffed toy animals and dolls -- triple normal sales," said Fong Yen-chu (
US-based retail chain Toys 'R' Us Inc is also capitalizing on growing local interest in the Western holiday.
"Christmas is a big day for us, with about 15 percent of the company's annual sales coming from this season alone," said Fanny Hsu (
The company's sales doubled over the weekend, although Hsu didn't disclose sales figures.
Despite going all out on this year's Christmas marketing effort, the company doesn't expect to see significant sales growth over the same period last year.
"The slow economy has crimped consumer confidence, and impacted their shopping budget," she said.
The average holiday shopper spent NT$800 on each child, down from NT$1,000 last year, Hsu said.
According to an ACNielsen consumer-confidence report released last week, local consumer spending on vacations dropped 65 percent over the six-month period, while purchases of luxury items plummeted 74 percent.
Taiwan's consumer-price index fell 0.55 percent last month from October, following a 1.7 percent decline the previous month, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
Consumer prices are falling as retailers try to lure consumers at a time when the unemployment rate was at a near-record high of 5.22 percent in November. Local manufacturers have been expanding production in China, where land and labor costs are lower, leading to fewer new jobs here.
Another retailer also said shoppers are more conservative this year.
"Rather than choosing expensive presents such as jewelry, this year people are buying up cakes or chocolates instead," said Shauna Lee (
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