Dive Brief:
- During the holiday season, shoppers are forecast to spend an average of $875 on gifts, decorations, food and other seasonal items, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
- The top five expected gift categories are clothing (56%), gift cards (44%), toys (37%) and books, video games and other media (31%), per the survey results.
- The most popular source for gift inspiration is online search (44%), friends and family (35%), in store (32%) and wish lists (26%).
Dive Insight:
As nearly three-quarters of consumers plan on shopping during the upcoming five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the average anticipated spend is up 5% from 2022.
“Retailers are stocked and ready to help customers find all the items on their holiday lists at competitive prices.” NRF CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
Apparel, a category that has seen mixed results in 2023, is one of the primary items people plan on giving. Retail sales for October, wherein many companies started their holiday sales, showed that sales for the category were flat, but analysts noted that apparel retailers had an extensive amount of discounting during the month.
Additionally, the total spent on gift cards this season is expected to reach $29.3 billion. While restaurant and bank-issued gift cards are the most popular, department stores come in third at 26% of consumer spend. Holiday shoppers plan to purchase three or four gift cards with an average of $49.43 per card.
Spending this season is expected to reach “record levels,” according to the NRF, which forecast a 3% to 4% rise year over year in holiday spending to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion.
