survey: Shoppers want selection

It’s easy for retailers to blame inclement weather for sluggish sales during this past holiday season. But a survey conducted by Meridian Advertising, Troy, Mich., and Wiese Research Associates, Omaha, Neb., suggests the reason was a lack of selection and a failure to live up to customers’ expectations.

The survey asked customers about their spending, where they shopped and why. About 42 percent claimed they spent more during the 2000 holiday season. But the surveyed consumers said they tended to buy fewer items if they could not find exactly what they were looking for.

Selection was more of a driving factor than price and sales in determining which stores they chose, the survey said.