According to an August 2023 study, about ** percent of Gen Z consumers surveyed in the United States planned on increasing the amount they would spend on holiday shopping e-commerce in 2023. Additionally, ** percent of millennials also planned to increase their online holiday spending.

This statistic shows the year-over-year growth of holiday retail sales in the United States from 2000 to 2024. In 2024, holiday retail sales were forecast to grow by approximately 2.5 percent compared to the previous year. This was given as a conservative value. Forecast holiday season retail growth was expected to be within 2.5 and 3.5 percent range. Holiday season in the United States The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s truly the best time of the year for both consumers and retailers of all shapes and sizes. Since the recession in 2008, Christmas holiday retail sales in the United States have grown steadily. In 2022, Christmas retail sales reached 929.5 billion U.S. dollars. Furthermore, the amount of money that U.S. consumers plan to spend on gifts has fluctuated year to year. Gift shopping In the United States, consumers were more likely to select online stores when shopping for gifts for their loved ones. More than half of consumers in 2022 said that they were more likely to visit online retailers for holiday gifts. Mass retailers were also popular with half of respondents to the same survey. Most U.S. consumers would already begin their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving. Only a small fraction of consumers (nine percent) said they would start their holiday shopping in December.

In 2025, holiday retail sales in the United States were forecast to reach over************* U.S. dollars. This figure was given as a conservative estimate; retail sales over the holiday season were projected to be between ****** billion U.S. dollars and *******billion U.S. dollars in 2025. Holiday retail sales have risen substantially since the turn of the century, reaching approximately 416 billion U.S. dollars in 2002. Holiday retail sales are a fraction of total retail sales in the United States, which were around ************** U.S. dollars in 2023. Holiday season e-commerce is also on the rise, with increasing numbers of retailers and consumers going digital. What makes up the winter holiday season in the United States? The winter holiday season includes shopping occasions such as Thanksgiving weekend - which is made up of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Super Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas, and Christmas itself. Thanksgiving weekend is a very popular time for consumers to partake in holiday shopping. In 2022, over *** million U.S. consumers shopped on Black Friday. Leading companies in U.S. retail The domestic retail market in the United States is very competitive, with many companies recording substantial retail sales. Walmart, a retail chain offering low prices and a wide selection of products, is the leading retailer in the United States. Amazon, The Kroger Co., Costco, and Target are a selection of other leading U.S. retailers.

Based on Statista estimates, the total value of retail sales over the holiday shopping season is forecast to reach 973 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. This marks a 4.8 percent increase on the previous year's value, which accounted to about 929 billion U.S. dollars.

During the 2025 holiday season, 47 percent of American shoppers planned to buy exclusively or mostly online. Only 9 percent of shoppers intend to buy everything in stores, while 24 percent plan to divide their holiday purchases equally between online and offline purchase channels.

In recent years, online spending via desktop devices during Cyber Monday has skyrocketed in the United States, reaching approximately *********** U.S. dollars in 2020. This figure represents an increase of nearly ** percent over the previous year. In its 2020 version, Black Friday recorded a desktop spend of about *** billion dollars, whereas Thanksgiving expenditure amounted to some *** billion dollars.

During the 2025 holiday season, 60 percent of the budget designated to buy toys and hobby products and services is expected to be spent online in the United States. Most of the spending on electronics and accessories (58 percent) is also expected to happen online, while over 80 percent of food and beverage spending is planned in-store.

In 2025, about 56 percent of consumers in the United States intended to spend roughly the same amount of money on Christmas goods as they did in the respective previous year. Twenty-three percent of American respondents intended to spend less for Christmas, while 19 percent expected to spend more. Christmas celebrations in the U.S. In the United States, Christmas is one of the biggest holidays of the year: according to a survey, roughly nine out of 10 Americans stated they would celebrate the holiday. Only about six percent of Americans were not planning to partake in any celebrations. Holiday promotions In the past few years, holiday retail sales in the United States have skyrocketed. In 2025, U.S. holiday retail sales figures reached just over one trillion U.S. dollars, which was an increase of 24 billion just compared to the year before. The winter holiday season includes shopping occasions, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On days such as these, retail products are somewhat to significantly cheaper, making them opportune moments for holiday shopping.

Mobile spending during ***** of the most relevant holiday shopping days in the United States increased in 2020. That year, Cyber Monday recorded a mobile spend of *** billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Black Friday and Thanksgiving saw spending rise to more than ***** and *** billion dollars, respectively.

In the United States, holiday season online retail sales grew by 8.6 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year. Forecasts suggested that this growth would decrease in 2025 to 5.3 percent. The new normal in holiday shopping In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many U.S. consumers to do their holiday shopping online. A year later, although the situation once again allows for physical shopping, e-commerce is still gaining relevance. According to estimates, holiday season online retail sales in the United States were to reach new heights in 2024, amounting to 241 billion dollars. As in previous years, Cyber Monday and Black Friday would remain the most relevant holiday shopping days in 2025, expected to generate approximately 14 billion and 12 billion U.S. dollars in sales, respectively. A preference for online With Cyber Monday expected to generate 2.5 billion dollars more than Black Friday in 2025, it comes as no surprise that most holiday shoppers reported that their preferred type of retailer for holiday gifts were online-only retailers. Over six in ten consumers prefered to buy holiday gifts from e-commerce only merchants, while department stores only only preferred by about 24 percent of seasonal shoppers.

In 2024, consumers in the United States expected to spend over 1,000 U.S. dollars on holiday gifts on average. This is the first time the projected spending estimate reached that 1,000-dollar-mark. Holiday shopping The Christmas, or holiday season, is the single most critical sales period of the year for many retailers: this period includes days, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and an increasing amount of Americans also shop online during this busy time. An incredible shopping hubbub is produced during this period, with a staggering ** percent of U.S. consumers having said they intended to buy something during the Christmas season in 2024. Gift cards and vouchers Christmas is a public holiday in the United States and is celebrated on December 25th each year. It is known as a big economic stimulus for many people to purchase Christmas gifts for their beloved family and friends. After Christmas and New Year’s Eve, retail sales often peak again in January as many people redeem their received Christmas gift cards and vouchers. In fact, over **** of U.S. consumers planned to buy gift cards or gift certificates for others. It is a popular gifting option, with many Americans indicating that it can be very convenient.

For 2022's holiday season, a significant share of consumers intended to cut back on spending due to inflation. In the United Kingdom (UK), for example, roughly **** in ** shoppers said they expected to reduce all of their Black Friday and Christmas spending this year. Only about ** percent of surveyed UK consumers said they would not cut back on their holiday spending. According to the same report, European holiday season spending in 2022 was expected to see a considerable drop in comparison to 2021.

Why do consumers shop on Black Friday?

Black Friday takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States and is the largest discount shopping event of the year. While Thanksgiving is not celebrated overseas, the shopping event did become an international phenomenon over time. When asked why they planned to shop during Black Friday, about ***** in ** consumers in the United Kingdom said the sales event offers better deals and prices for buying gifts.

The impact of inflation on holiday shopping

Unsurprisingly, consumers are more cautious about their spending due to the wave of rising consumer prices. This applies especially during the holiday season, which is typically a time of year that involves more expenses than usual. According to a survey conducted in Germany, roughly half of consumers planned to pay closer attention to offers during Black Friday as a result of rising prices and the effects of the energy crisis in 2022. Close to the same number of German shoppers said they intended to buy less overall.

Americans planned to spend ** U.S. dollars on average on decorations for the holiday season in 2021. This is an increase of almost ten dollars compared to 2015, when consumers spent around ** U.S. dollars.

Holiday season spending

Home and holiday furnishings, which includes decorations, ranked in fifth place on a list of planned holiday expenditures among American consumers. In 2020, Americans planned to spend approximately *** U.S. dollars on home and holiday furnishings on average. Gifts topped the list that year with consumers planning to spend around *** U.S. dollars. When it came to total Christmas spending, most U.S. consumers in 2020 said they would spend around the same amount of money as last Christmas, whilst roughly ** percent planned on spending more.

Online holiday shopping

During the very busy holiday shopping season, many consumers prefer shopping online in order to avoid the crowds. In fact, in 2020 and 2021, more than nine in ten consumers in the United States used Amazon during the holiday season, making it the most popular e-commerce website for this time of year. In order to keep up with the high demand, Amazon planned to hire about *** thousand workers ahead of the holiday shopping stretch.

In 2023, holiday shopping season will start a little later for many consumers in the United States. According to the findings of a recent survey, half of U.S. consumers were intending to start their holiday shopping in October in 2023. This share was at 56 percent the previous year.

Holiday season in the United States The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s truly the best time of the year for both consumers and retailers of all shapes and sizes. Since the recession in 2008, Christmas holiday retail sales in the United States have grown steadily. The amount of money that U.S. consumers plan to spend on gifts has, however, fluctuated. A 2022 survey revealed that U.S. consumers expected to spend, on average, 867 U.S. dollars in 2022; an increase from 794 dollars in 2018.

Black Friday For millions of people, Black Friday is the time to do some serious Christmas shopping — even before the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. It is the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it's one of the major shopping days of the year in the United States, falling anywhere between November 23 and 29. While it's not recognized as an official US holiday, many employees have the day off — except those working in retail. Ever since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.

In 2024 the biggest holiday shopping challenges for online retailers were rising inflation rates and increasing costs. In third was meetng profitability goals. In contrast, only **** percent of retailers reported enhancing fulfillment efforts as a challenge.

UK consumers were asked what strategies they are implementing to manage their holiday expenses in 2025. While 32 percent of respondents did not plan to make any changes, about nine percent stated that they would downsize holiday gatherings.

In 2024, consumers in Canada planned to spend an average of nearly ** percent of their holiday shopping budget online. This is a slight increase compared to 2023.

In a survey conducted in the U.S. in August 2020, ** percent of respondents reported that the main reason they expected their holiday spending in 2020 to increase was because they were able to save more money during the coronavirus pandemic.

Across the globe and in the United States, consumers tend to spend a considerable amount of money during specific festivities and seasonal events. During the winter holiday season of 2024, for instance, consumers in the United States expected to spend an average of about *** U.S. dollars per person, making it one of the top U.S. shopping events of the year. That said, the top spot went to the back-to-college season, when average per capita spending was projected to reach nearly ***** U.S. dollars. What do back-to-college shoppers buy? Getting students ready for an academic year at college can be an expensive ordeal in the United States. In addition to paying tuition and rent, it is frequently the first time young adults leave their parents’ homes, which can translate to an array of items needing to be purchased. In 2024, U.S. consumers planned to spend a total of more than ** billion U.S. dollars on back-to-college dorm and/or apartment furnishings. Only five years earlier, planned college furniture spending in the United States stood at less than ***** billion U.S. dollars in total. The impact of inflation on consumption Although consumers consistently spend more money on products and services during specific seasonal events, the wave of inflation that has hit the world in the last couple of years has thrown a wrench into many consumers’ shopping plans. For instance, increasing numbers of holiday shoppers in the United States have been looking for more sales than usual or said they would be buying less expensive gifts.

Consumers in the United States expected to spend on average roughly 1,552 U.S. dollars on others and themselves over the 2025 holiday season, over the categories of gifts, travel, and entertainment. This is a decrease of more than 80 dollars from the previous year.