Consumers celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa will spend an average of $805.65 on food items, decorations, gifts and more over the holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation's "Holiday Consumer Spending Survey" conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics. This is the highest amount in the survey's 14-year history and in line with last year's $802.45. Spending on gifts for family members will total $462.95, up from $458.75 last year and also a survey high.
"We continue to see positive momentum in retail sales growth, giving us reason to believe consumers will show up this holiday season as they look to take advantage of all of retailers' promotional offerings," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "In an effort to attract all shoppers—from the extremely price sensitive to the online millennial—retailers will be offering exclusive incentives, low prices, price-matching, top toys and everyone's favorite: free shipping and buy online, pick up in-store offers."
Retailers' buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) initiatives will get a workout this season. Nearly half (46.5 percent) of shoppers plan to take advantage of these programs, and a whopping 93.1 percent will use a free shipping offer.
Same-day shipping will appeal to the coveted youth market as 16.7 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 15.9 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds will use a same-day delivery option when buying gifts, décor and other holiday items, compared to just 7.8 percent of the rest of the population.
