Consumer Behavior

COVID-19 impact on holiday shopping is clear, reveals survey

Photo by istock.com

November 12, 2020

When it comes to holiday gift buying this year, the coronavirus is having a direct impact on consumer behavior, payment and avenues to shop.

Nearly half of Americans, 41%, will spend less either due to less funds or not seeing the usual amount of family and friends, according to a TD Bank survey, and more than a third, 34%, will whip out the credit card due to needing flexibility in payment this year because of job losses and salary cuts.

When it comes to big shopping days, Cyber Monday will likely beat out Black Friday as 51% will avoid in-store Black Friday shopping but 60% plan to shop online on Cyber Monday, according to a press release on the findings.

Additional findings include:

• When it comes to who they are buying gifts for outside of close friends and family, Americans plan to buy for coworkers (17%), delivery people (12%) and teachers (10%). In 2019, the top three were coworkers (20% — perhaps down this year due to the WFH environment), holiday party hosts (13% — potentially down this year due to less parties occurring) and teachers (11%).
• Only 5% plan to buy "experiential" gits (concert tickets, dinners, spa days, etc.) this year, down from 10% last year. This is likely due to closures of public events due to COVID-19.