As of September 2024, survey respondents in America expect to spend approximately 735 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.

In 2024, consumers in the United States expected to spend over one thousand U.S. dollars on holiday gifts on average. This is the first time the projected spending estimate reached that one thousand-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 95 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 half 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.

Millennials were planning to spend the most on themselves and others during the holiday season in the United States in 2024. The generational cohort was expecting to spend more than 2,200 U.S. dollars on average, with their younger counterparts, Generation Z, planning to spend under 1,800 U.S. dollars on the festive period.

In 2024, holiday retail sales in the United States were forecast to reach about 979.5 billion U.S. dollars. This figure was given as a conservative value; retail sales over the holiday season was projected to be between 979.5 billion U.S. dollars to 989 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Holiday retail sales have risen substantially since the turn of the century, with holiday retail sales amounting to approximately 416 billion U.S. dollars back in 2002. Holiday retail sales are a fraction of total retail sales in the United States which were around seven trillion 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 100 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.

According to a survey carried out in the United States in September 2023, consumers planned to spend over 60 percent of their total holiday season budget online, and the rest on in-store purchases.

This statistic shows the change in holiday spending behavior among U.S. consumers in 2023. That year, about 43 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.

On average, consumers in the United States planned to spend over 200 U.S. dollars on gift cards and certificates during the 2024 holiday season, making it the product category gift shoppers spend the most on by far. Expected spending for apparel during that period amounted to over 145 U.S. dollars per capita.

During 2023's holiday season in the United States, 37 percent of Hispanic Americans said they expected to spend more during this holiday season than the previous one. On the other hand, only 21 percent of non-Hispanic Americans planned to spend more during the 2023 holiday season compared to the previous year.

In 2024, about 52 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. A quarter of American respondents intended to spend less for Christmas, whilst 20 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 eight and a half out of 10 Americans stated they would celebrate the holiday. Only about 10 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 2023, U.S. holiday retail sales figures reached just over 950 billion U.S. dollars, which was an increase of some 20 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. When asked when they would likely start their holiday shopping, about 40 percent of U.S. consumers said they would begin in November already, i.e., when these major sales events take place.

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 73 percent, while in the previous year around 60 percent of those surveyed said they would reduce their spending for such expenses. In the UK, as high as 79 percent of consumers expected to spend less or delay their non-food related purchases this holiday season.

In 2023, 34 percent of online shoppers in the United States reported that they expected to spend the most money for the holiday season at online-only retailer sites like Amazon. Another 14 percent reported they would spend the most money for the holidays at big-box stores like Walmart and Target.

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 60 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.

This statistic shows average planned holiday expenditure on gifts for friends in the United States from 2004 to 2021. In 2021, consumers in the U.S. planned to spend 79 U.S. dollars on average on gifts for friends during the holidays.

This statistic shows average holiday season expenditure on non-gift holiday items in the United States in 2021, by product type. In 2021, U.S. consumers planned to spend an average of 115 U.S. dollars on candy and food as part of their non-gift holiday shopping.

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

This statistic depicts the expected annual consumer spending in the United States in 2017, by seasonal event. That year, the Easter season was expected to generate about 18.4 billion U.S. dollars in spending.

Consumer holiday spending

If you look on consumer spending throughout the year, it is easy to identify several peaks around seasonal events and holidays. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the spring season contains Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, and Independence Day. In comparison, the fall season is home to Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Halloween, Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Martin Luther King Day.

The highest in-store traffic and consumer spending usually occurs during the holiday season starting November 1st until December 31st, especially on the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend plus Cyber Monday and the remaining Saturdays before Christmas. The NRF indicated that about one fifth of the annual retail sales stem from the entire holiday season occurring in November and December. In 2014, the seasonal traffic in brick-and-mortar stores peaked not on Black Friday, as most people would assume, but on the last Saturday before Christmas. Industry experts explained the fact that Black Friday didn’t continue to perform as the busiest shopping day with retailers’ stretching their deals and promotions across November and December. The shift in traffic has even gone so far that people started calling Thanksgiving Day ‘Gray Thursday’.

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 115 U.S. dollars on average on candy and food.

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.

This statistic shows the average planned holiday expenditure on gifts for co-workers in the United States from 2004 to 2021. In 2021, consumers in the U.S. planned to spend 25 U.S. dollars on average on gifts for co-workers and colleagues, a decrease compared to 2019's and 2020's spending average.

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 four in 10 shoppers said they expected to reduce all of their Black Friday and Christmas spending this year. Only about 30 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 seven in 10 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.