It’s the most wonderful time of the year — for retailers. Sales floors beckon shoppers with displays including cotton snow, Christmas trees, and candy canes. They’re all meant to bring on the festive and set the stage for spending that accounts for 25% of total receipts for any given year.
We wanted to know what consumer habits are shaping up this year, as inflation has prompted 85% of Americans to cut back on discretionary spending. What are this year’s shoppers thinking? What do they think is an ideal spend for each of their loved ones’ gifts? And will they shop in different types of stores this year for different goods?
And it looks like Americans are tightening their belts.
Big Takeaways:
- Most Americans believe gifts should cost less than $50 (with 65% spending under $50 even for extended family). The exceptions are for immediate family (significant others and children).
- The most popular holiday gift is clothes, with 75% of Americans saying they’ll buy them for loved ones.
- Only ~25% of Americans say they are “very likely” to shop in-person at a small business this holiday season.
- Weekly packages are the norm. Sixty percent of Americans say they’ll receive weekly deliveries throughout the holiday season.
How We Did It
We surveyed 1,200 Americans in November 2024, asking questions that would capture broad consumer, business, and macroeconomic trends for the coming months.
We were interested in hearing from consumers about issues that impact their holidays personally but speak to trends for business owners nationally. What can these consumer habits and patterns tell us this holiday season?
Americans Think They Should Spend Less than $50 on Most Gifts
How much should you spend on your significant other? Your kids? Their teachers?
Partners get the lion’s share of holiday budgets, as most respondents think they should fork over $100-$200 for their significant other’s gift, and over 73% of respondents saying it’s appropriate to spend more than $50 on a significant other. That’s about the same as the average $123 that Americans said they spent on their spouse for the holidays in 2022.
It’s also significantly more than the paltry $0-$20 range that respondents chose most often as appropriate not just for their coworkers, teachers, and staff, but also for friends. Though Americans agree both groups should get the lowest budget, almost half of respondents (46%) suggested the $20 cap for friends, while a much higher 90% thought it was appropriate for coworkers, staff, and teachers.
Most Americans think family members deserve a more generous gift, costing $20-$50 per person, with 90% of respondents saying that less than $100 for extended family members was the sweet spot.
Apart from significant others, children enjoy the highest gift budgets. The most popular suggested budget for children’s gifts is $50-$100, with more than 65% saying it’s appropriate to spend $50 or more on each child (and almost 20% suggesting a per-child budget over $200). For parents, the divide gets even wider. Twenty-three percent of parents believe you should spend over $200 on your significant other, while 31% say that’s the right amount for children.
Parent or not, Americans spend most on spouses and children, but despite higher prices, budgets haven’t grown over previous years.
Don’t tell that to men — they’re the season’s big spenders, with 31% thinking you should spend over $200 on your significant other. Just 16% of women said the same!
67% of Americans say they’ll shop at large retailers, only 24% at small ones
It’s a jungle out there, and for most, that’s the Amazon.
The online giant and other large online sites will capture the most shoppers this year, with almost 70% of Americans saying they’ll do some holiday shopping online at a large retailer this year. A comparable 65% say they’ll shop in person at a large retailer, like Target or Walmart.
The fewest Americans say they’ll shop online at a small business (20%), with a slightly higher number (28%) saying it’s likely that they’ll shop in person at a small business this holiday season.
Online shopping is often credited with helping independent retailers get their unique goods in front of more people, and 1 in 5 Americans say they shop at small businesses often, with 60% saying they shop with small businesses more during the holidays.
This year, with just 20-28% shopping small businesses, there may not be any holiday lift for these independent purveyors. Instead, convenience and familiarity are driving holiday shopping.
Gen Z is Standing with Independent Businesses
Some Americans are more committed to shopping independently than others.
A third of Gen Z respondents, born after 1996, say they’re “very likely” to shop at a small business this holiday season, and another 30% say they’d shop directly from a small business online.
Boomers are the least likely to shop at small businesses — whether online or in person. The generation born between 1946 and 1964 is the most likely to shop in person (84% prefer shopping in stores). But while strolling the aisles, they’re not searching for new brands. Instead, Boomers tend to choose convenience and familiarity when shopping. The same is likely to go for their holiday purchases this year.
75% of Americans are Shopping for Clothing This Year, Just 8% Gift Travel
That holiday sweater is popular this year, as Americans are keeping it basic.
Almost 75% of this year’s shoppers say they’ll purchase clothes for holiday gifts this season, and that’s almost 40% more than the next most popular category: toys.
Must-have essentials like pants, jackets, and t-shirts are a far cry from the “luxury” category most gifters are avoiding this year — just 8% of Americans plan on giving the gift of travel. Experiences are also some of the least popular gifts this year, with only 30% of Americans planning on gifting something like concerts, movie tickets, or classes this year.
Gen Z and Men Are Most Likely to Gift Electronics
Digital natives Gen Z are most likely to gift electronics this year, while the aging boomers are the least.
Gen Z is also the most likely to gift travel and experiences, showing the youngest generation’s contrarian approach to (some of) the country’s overall holiday trends. Gen Z is also most likely to gift clothing, the country’s most popular category among all age groups combined.
Generationally, electronics divide respondents most, with 58.82% more Gen Z respondents saying they’ll gift electronics this year than boomers who say the same. But the polarizing electronics category also separates the sexes most. Men are more than 30% more likely than women to say they’re planning to gift electronics this year.
60% of Americans Expect Weekly Deliveries This Year, 10% Expect Daily Packages
Delivery days are the norm as more Americans shop online. This holiday season, the average American will see a package show up on their doorstep weekly — and 11.42% say they’ll get a package every day this holiday season, with another 59.67% anticipating weekly deliveries.
Increasing home deliveries is an extension of national trends that skyrocketed online shopping during the pandemic and led to U.S. package deliveries of 28 million per day in 2023 (324 packages delivered per second). That number surged to 60 million per day during the holiday season 2023, for a total of 3.6 billion holiday packages delivered.
If 11.42% of Americans follow through on their estimation to have a package delivered daily during the 2024 holiday season, a daily single package delivery for that group alone would top 2.1 billion total packages over November and December 2024. Add the packages of our respondents who anticipate weekly and monthly delivery, and the 2024 holiday season total comes to 3.8 billion (assuming those daily customers only receive a single parcel per day).
This year, we’re on target to deliver just shy (.93) of one additional package for every adult in the U.S. compared to 2023.
So even while projected spending is stagnant, package deliveries may continue to grow.
Business insurance and logistics insurers increasingly offer coverage to meet the risks from consumers' porches that are, more than ever, piled high with attractive targets. Consumers continue to demand home delivery (and rely on online shopping). Consequently, with customers saying they’ll rely even more on package deliveries this year, businesses are set to invest more in ensuring safe, reliable deliveries.
The South Relies on Daily Delivery Most
Americans aren’t embracing package delivery equally. While most respondents across all regions receive deliveries weekly (59.67% of the total), regional differences abound.
Southerners lead in the daily (4.00%) and rarely (5.83%) delivery categories. With the nation’s highest and lowest delivery users, Southerners likely have a large divide between people who prefer online shopping and those who like to buy in person.
Those who pound the pavement in crowded malls may find their compatriots in Midwesterners. The region has the lowest proportion of both daily (2.50%) and weekly deliveries (.08%).
The West has the largest percentage of respondents who report weekly deliveries (21.08%), significantly higher than other regions. Overall, Westerners will have a higher dependency on weekly deliveries this season.
America Trims the Fat
This year, Americans tell us they believe in gift budgets that don’t grow over previous years. They’re buying more clothes than any other consumer category as gifts. They’re not taking off much work, if any. And they’re relying on large retailers and package delivery to organize their buying.
Overall, the theme this year is essentials. People are looking for convenience, security, and simple pleasures. They’re buying cozy winter wear, not plane tickets meant to help them jet-set off to new places.
The younger generations are bucking the trend, looking for more experiences, more time off, and more unique gifts from small businesses. Will they lead the country to new trends next year? Or do today’s shoppers point to a shift in priorities that could shape the future of holiday traditions?
That remains to be seen.
But whether it’s the younger generation embracing experiences or the majority of us leaning into the comfort of a cozy new shirt, one thing is clear: this holiday season is about finding joy in the little things that bring us closer together.
Methodology
These survey findings are based on a survey conducted on Nov 5, 2024, and include responses from a representative sample of 1,200 Americans
