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Small Business Holiday Gift Budgets Hold Steady

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November 9, 2009

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Less than half (47%) of small businesses plan to give gifts to customers this holiday season on par with last year (52%), and will spend a similar amount ($455 in 2009 vs. $457 in 2008), according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Holiday Monitor, an annual survey of business owners conducted since 2002.  (
Download the American Express OPEN Small Business Holiday Monitor)

But in this economic environment, fewer small business owners (35%) are giving employee gifts (vs. 46% in 2008), 31% have plans to give year-end bonuses (vs. 44% in 2008) and 16% will give raises (vs. 30% in 2008).  Almost half of business owners (47%) will give employees time off over the holidays, even with last year (47%), although they are less inclined than last year to participate in a volunteer activity with their employees (19% in 2009 vs. 28% in 2008).

Overall, half of business owners (50%) possess an optimistic outlook on near-term business prospects over the next six months and more than two thirds (69%) do not believe the worst of the U.S. economic woes are over.  As a result, nearly six in ten entrepreneurs (57%) say the economic downturn has changed their holiday gift giving behavior.  To that end, 42% of small business owners are giving less expensive customer or employee gifts, 28% are avoiding laying out cash for gifts by using reward points, bartering, or using their own company’s products/services, and 23% have stopped giving gifts to clients. 

Among those planning to give gifts, one in four (26%) business owners said they’ll continue to give holiday gifts to customers because they have done it for so long… 
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