Buy or Wait? Memorial Day Spending Stats and Shopping Hacks Revealed

BELOIT, Wis., May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FatWallet.com, the online savings resource for millions of deal hunters, presents a Memorial Day shopping guide for navigating through the biggest retail sales event in 2016, to date. The guide provides holiday shoppers with tips for what to buy now versus waiting for Back-to-School sales, summer clearance or Black Friday. FatWallet aggregates thousands of deals and coupons from major retailers participating in Memorial Day sales events, offering timely savings on more expensive items for the home, yard, closet and summer vacation bookings.

"Memorial Day brings the largest sales events of the year, so far," states Brent Shelton, FatWallet Online Shopping Expert. "Savings on big-ticket items for the home can be significant this week, and timely for consumers that have needs for acquiring them now, versus waiting to buy these items later in the year."

8 Items to "Buy" or "Wait to Buy" during Memorial Day sales:

Summer Travel: BUY – While only 11% name Memorial Day as the best time for summer travel, the holiday signals urgency for securing summer vacation bookings. With 81% regularly go on vacations and 25% multiple times a year (survey), online travel sites like Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz and hotels.com compete to feature their best offers on airfare and hotel deals, cruise deals and car rental coupons for Memorial Day shoppers.

Summer Clothing: BUY – The kick-off of summer clothing retail season, some 34% of Memorial Day shoppers buy clothes and another 21% buy shoes as dozens of site-wide discounts from top retailers, including 20-50% off shorts, tanks, sandals and swimwear, swarm the best deals of the weekend.

Mattresses: BUY - 36 million mattresses are shipped each year. Traditionally, there is no better time to buy a mattress, or mattress sets, than during Memorial Day sales when all specialty sleep, furniture and department store retailers offer their biggest savings and brand selection of the year.

Appliances: BUY and WAIT – More than 62 million major appliances will ship in the U.S. in 2016. Home improvement stores like Home Depot, Sears and Lowe's will feature Memorial Day deals with up to 50% off refrigerators, ranges, washers and dryers, etc. that rival their Black Friday prices.

Laptops: WAIT – Like TVs, there are always one-off sales for laptops, especially older models. While a healthy 12% will look for deals on electronics during Memorial Day sales, the best time to buy a new laptop is during Back to School sales in July, or on Black Friday when selection and prices on MacBooks, touchscreen laptops and 2-in-1 hybrid tablet/laptops can drop as much as 50%.

Patio Furniture and Grills: BUY and WAIT – A growing industry with $8 billion in sales, spring discounting on patio furniture and grills hit its peak during Memorial Day weekend. Prices go back up in June until summer clearance in the fall when these items are cheapest, but are also ready for storage.

Lawn & Garden Supplies: BUY – As annual retail sales eclipse $6 billion, May brings sweeping spring sales on lawn and gardening supplies that ramp up to Memorial Day. Holiday deals offer some of the best seasonal discounts on mulch, soil, plant food, fertilizers, pesticides and grass seed.

Power Tools: WAIT – A recent survey reports Father's Day is the best time to buy tools, and 1 in 10 buy them as gifts for dads. Although some tool deals in May offer good savings, especially for outdoor power equipment, waiting until June offers a better over-all selection of savings options that can rival Black Friday tool deals.

Statistical sources include: MarketResearch.com, Statista, Stisticbrain, ibiworld, KEJZ and FatWallet.

About: FatWallet is a smart resource for millions of online and mobile shoppers to find and share thousands of current coupons and deals from more than 2,000 retailers like Kohl's, Amazon, Walmart and Ebay. The much-celebrated FatWallet forums represent the pulse of an evolving online and mobile marketplace where the savviest deal hunters in the world gather to share and learn about ways to save money.

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SOURCE FatWallet