Consumer spending on winter holidays is projected to average $902 per person—an overall decline of 2.28% from last year’s average of $923. This estimate, which encompasses gifts, food, decorations, and other seasonal items, comes from the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) latest consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics.
“The winter holidays are a treasured time for Americans, and they are prioritizing spending on family this holiday season,” NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said. “Despite the shorter window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailers are prepared to meet the needs of consumers by providing holiday shoppers with earlier deals and sales and by ensuring inventory is available for the most in-demand items this year.”
As consumers navigate their holiday budgets, there's a diverse range of opinions on how much the average person spends.
“I would assume that the total amount of money an average consumer spends would balance out at some point between all of the family categories,” NHS junior Nichole Tabor explained. “Because I believe parents take the lead in gift-giving, I would say the average would be anywhere from $800 to $900.”
“I think that an average person spends about $1,000 on the holidays every year,” NHS sophomore Clare Csaszar added.
While Tabor and Csaszar had higher price expectations, others think the average person spends much less during the holiday season.
“In my opinion, the average spending amount per person would be about $500 if you average everyone together,” NHS senior Emma McIntosh said.
“I think it is more like $200-$300,” NHS sophomore Brady Wennerholm said in agreement with NHS student Caleigh Ward.
“I would say about $100 would be the average spending amount,” NHS sophomore Jolene Brackett emphasized on a smaller scale.
“I feel like if it was a teenager if they were to have a group of friends they would probably spend $50 per friend. If it is a parent who has teenagers like myself, we have a rule that [we cannot spend] more than $400 per kid. With that, I would say the average person spends about $100 during the holiday season,” NHS teacher Cheryl Lombardo said from a parental perspective.
The increase in holiday spending is largely attributed to gifts for family members and friends. Of the $902 shoppers plan to spend, approximately $641 will be spent on gifts for family, friends, co-workers, and others, an increase from $620 last year. The remaining $261 will be spent on other seasonal items such as food or candy, decorations, greeting cards, and other holiday items.
In 2023, the top four gift categories consumers planned to spend were on gift cards (55%), clothing or accessories (49%), books, video games, or other media (28%), and personal care or beauty items (25%). The trend is likely to continue this holiday season.
“In my opinion, clothing and electronics are definitely popular gifts to give during the holidays,” Tabor said.
“Clothing and maybe even candles are really popular gifts,” McIntosh added.
“I would say the most popular gift-giving categories are clothes and little trinkets or accessories,” NHS sophomore Kaitlyn Harrington said.
Nearly all U.S. adults (92%) plan to celebrate winter holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa this year, in line with 2023.
Nearly half (45%) of holiday shoppers plan to browse and buy items before November, which is consistent with recent years and up from 40% 10 years ago. The top reasons for early shopping include spreading out their budget (59%), avoiding the stress of last-minute shopping (45%), avoiding crowds (42%), and pursuing prices or promotions that cannot be missed (42%). Despite the early start, most consumers (62%) anticipate finishing their shopping by December according to the 2024 Holiday Consumer Survey, conducted by Proper Insights and Analytics.
Harrington commented, “People tend to shop earlier because a lot of stuff is on sale, and it can get really rowdy and hard to find gifts when the holidays are near.”
Csaszar agreed, emphasizing, “It is definitely good to not miss out on deals like Black Friday.”
This holiday season, consumers will head to various shopping destinations for gifts and other items on their lists. Online remains the top destination this year, with 57% of consumers planning on making their holiday purchases utilizing technology. This is followed by department stores (46%), grocery stores and supermarkets (46%), and discount stores (45%).
“I would definitely say online shopping is the most popular shopping destination for people around the holidays. Amazon in particular probably benefits a lot due to how many people are buying gifts from them during the winter season,” Harrington said later.
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