Consumer Behavior

Nearly half of consumers will spend the same this holiday season as in past year

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October 15, 2021

Nearly half, 48%, of consumers expect to spend the same amount this upcoming holiday season as they did in 2020 though about a third, 34%, will boost spending by an average of 48%.

Those are top findings from the PowerReviews 2021 Holiday Consumer Survey that polled 7, 743 U.S. consumers regarding plans for holiday shopping.

Younger consumers are more likely to say they plan to increase their holiday spending: 58% of Gen Z shoppers and 39% of Millennials will increase the amount they spend this holiday season, compared to 29% of Gen Xers and 24% of Boomers, according to a press release on the findings.

The survey revealed 18% plan to decrease their overall holiday spending this year (by 28%, on average) and nearly all (99%) will do at least a portion of holiday shopping online this year, with 50% doing most shopping online, and 13% will do all of it online.

Here are additional findings from the survey:

• 37% plan to do half or more of their holiday shopping in-store.
• 67% will do the same amount or more in-store shopping this holiday season compared to last year.
• Over half (53%) are still concerned about shopping in-store due to COVID.
• Just over half (51%) will use curbside pickup as frequently as they did last holiday season. A third (33%) will use it more this holiday shopping season.
• About a third of consumers (32%) indicate their shopping habits have changed forever as a result of COVID. Namely, 34% say they're more comfortable shopping online than they were pre-COVID, and 26% don't think they'll ever shop in-store as much as they did before the pandemic.
• However, just over a third (34%) say that COVID hasn't had an effect on their shopping habits — and they don't anticipate that changing.