RetailMeNot: Holiday shoppers to spend over $1K each in 2024
Shoppers will spend early and often this holiday season, according to RetailMeNot.
Consumers plan to spend an average of $1,069 on holiday purchases in 2024, up an impressive 14% from 2023, according to the results of two consumer surveys from RetailMeNot.
Holiday shoppers get early start
The survey also found that 76% of respondents plan to get started on their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, with 40% having already started.
This includes planned holiday shopping start times of:
- August or earlier, 18% (up from 15% in 2023)
- September, 22% (up from 20% in 2023)
- October, 20%
- November (before Thanksgiving), 16%
- November (after Thanksgiving), 13%
- December, 5%
- Last-minute (week before the holidays), 3%
- I don’t shop for the holidays, 5%
Top reasons given for early holiday shopping include:
- To spread out my budget/space out purchases, 60%
- To take advantage of early bird sales and promotions, 57%
- To avoid items being sold out, 42%
- To reduce stress during/near the holidays (by getting shopping done early), 38%
- To make sure everything arrives on time /avoid delays, 35%
- To spread out the time/energy it takes to get it all done, 30%
- To buy gifts when they are top of mind, 19%
- To avoid disruptions/uncertainties caused by the November presidential election, 9%
- To compensate for what feels like a shorter holiday season (Thanksgiving falls Nov. 28), 6%
Social media, family provide holiday inspiration
Respondents stated that their top five holiday inspirational sources include:
- Social media ads, 45%
- Recommendations from friends/family, 41%
- Retailer websites/apps, 37%
- Search engine ads, 37%
- In-store promotions, 37%
In a related finding, close to half (45%) of respondents said they would trust AI for personalized shopping recommendations over a human salesperson.
Inflation drives holiday shopping stress
The top shopping stressors for 2024 include:
- Increasing prices, 50%
- Not knowing what to buy, 41%
- Fitting everything into my budget, 39%
- Large crowds in-store, 38.
- Finding the best deals, 31%
- Products being out-of-stock, 30%
- Delivery delays/getting everything in time for the holidays, 30%
- Uncertainty about my economic situation, 26%
- Finding the time to shop, 25%
- A short holiday period, 15%
[READ MORE: Adobe: U.S. online holiday spend to shatter records at $240.8 billion]
Results come from two surveys conducted among adult shoppers 18 and older by Ziff Davis, one fielded May 29-30 (1,202 respondents) and one fielded Sept. 13, 2024 (1,236 respondents).
