A majority of consumers plan to shop online this holiday season and are shopping early to spread out their budget, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s latest consumer survey of 8,103 adult consumers between October 2-9 conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Nearly all US adults (92%) said they planned to celebrate events such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa this year, on par with last year. Shopping destination trends will continue, with 58% of consumers planning to shop online this holiday season.
Those celebrating expect to spend $875 on average on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items (including online and offline), which is $42 more than last year and in line with the average holiday budget over the last five years.
Of the $875 consumers plan to spend, approximately $620 will be spent on gifts and $255 for seasonal items like decorations, candy or food.
Similar to previous years, 43% of holiday shoppers say they generally start their holiday shopping before November.
The top reasons people begin their shopping ahead of time are to spread out their budget (60%), avoid the stress of last-minute shopping (46%) and avoid crowds (45%). Regardless of how early consumers start, the majority (62%) expect they won’t finish until December.
However, early sales may sway consumers to shop even earlier, with 70% of holiday shoppers considering taking advantage of October sales event, according to Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist.
When shopping for gifts, 62% said sales and promotions were even more important to them this year than last year.
NRF CEO Matthew Shay said, “Retailers have been preparing for months to ensure their inventories will meet demand, while at the same time helping consumers maximize their budgets with shopping events and discounts running throughout the extended holiday shopping season.”
