As of September 2025, survey respondents in America expect to spend approximately *** U.S. dollars on gifting experiences for the holiday season, such as restaurant meals and concert tickets. They prioritize these experiences over retail purchases, including nongift purchases such as home furnishings and holiday decorations.

Millennials were planning to spend the most on themselves and others during the holiday season in the United States in 2025. However, they were planning to spend less compared to the previous year. There was an especially large drop in the spending by Gen Z with an expected expenditure of around ***** U.S. dollars, which was almost 500 dollars less than in 2024.

This statistic shows the change in holiday spending behavior among U.S. consumers in 2023. That year, about ** percent of shoppers in the United States claimed they would spend more on holiday purchases than they did one year before. Many of these survey respondents have said that inflation is the reason why they would be spending more than usual.

According to a survey carried out in the United States in August and September 2025, consumers planned to spend around 56 percent of their total holiday season budget online, and the rest on in-store purchases.

On average, consumers in the United States planned to spend about *** U.S. dollars on gift cards and certificates during the 2025 holiday season, making it the product category gift shoppers spend the most on. Expected spending for apparel amounted to *** U.S. dollars per person.

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.

American consumers planned to spend *** U.S. dollars on gift cards during the holiday season in 2025. Clothing and electronics followed, with *** and *** dollars, respectively.

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.

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.

According to a survey, almost ********* of the holiday spending on gifts, travel, and entertainment in the United States is planned to happen during the first 27 days of November 2025. More than ** percent of the budget for these purposes is expected to be spent on November 28, the day when Black Friday is happening.

In 2023, an increased number of consumers said they expected to make cuts to their non-food product purchases during the holiday season, which includes sales events like Black Friday as well. In the U.S., this share was at ** percent, while in the previous year around ** percent of those surveyed said they would reduce their spending for such expenses. In the UK, as high as ** percent of consumers expected to spend less or delay their non-food related purchases this holiday season.

As of September 2025, around ************ respondents in the United States planned to spend the most of their holiday shopping budget in late November, the highest within the given period from late September to January. This coincides with the big BFCM retail event, which is a significant promotional period in America.

Most consumers in the United States did not plan on increasing their holiday spending in 2020 compared to last year for all major holidays. Some ** percent of survey respondents planned to spend about the same amount for Thanksgiving in 2020. Nearly half of respondents planned to spend less this year on Halloween and Labor Day than they did in the previous year.

Between November 1 and December 31, 2022, online shoppers globally are expected to spend an estimated ***** billion U.S. dollars on holiday shopping. Cyber Monday alone is forecast to generate approximately **** billion dollars in online sales.

The effect of economic uncertainty on holiday shopping

In 2022, the twin evils of inflation and economic stagnation threaten to affect consumer demand during this year's festivities. In a survey conducted in August 2022, nearly a third of consumers worldwide stated that galloping inflation was their  prime concern this holiday season. Other issues like uncertainty about the global economy and lack of savings also came up as areas of concern. Since many people wait for the holidays to buy big-ticket items, these categories are forecast to witness the highest rates of e-commerce discounts, with e-retailers anticipating grim consumer sentiment to affect this year's peak season sales. Categories like computers and electronics could see double-digit discount rates that online shoppers can benefit from.

Impact of inflation on e-commerce

During the holiday season and beyond, the global macroeconomic outlook for 2022 is spelling bad news for e-commerce businesses across the globe. In the United States, that rapidly grew and thrived during the pandemic got hit by a wave of e-commerce layoffs that dealt a blow to the industry. One way consumers are dealing with rising inflation and economic uncertainty is by resorting to recommerce: In a May 2022 survey, around ** percent of U.S. shoppers reported that inflation impacted their decision to buy and sell secondhand products online in the past twelve months. The recommerce market in the U.S. is set to reach nearly *** billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

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.

According to a survey carried out in the United States in 2025, about ** percent of surveyed consumers were planning to spend between 1,000 to roughly ***** U.S. dollars during 2025's holiday shopping season. Just ** percent of respondents had a budget of over ***** U.S. dollars.

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.

For the 2024 holiday season, over ******* of consumers in the United States said they planned to spend more on gifts per person than they did in the previous year. About **** intend to spend roughly the same on holiday shopping per person as they did in the previous year.

This statistic depicts the spending behaviour of online shoppers in the United States in 2015. This holiday season customers plan to spend, on average, ****** U.S. dollars for candy and food.

This statistic shows average planned holiday expenditure on candy and food in the United States from 2004 to 2021. In 2021, consumers in the U.S. planned to spend *** U.S. dollars on average on candy and food.