NRF survey says holiday shoppers will spend 4.1 percent more this year

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Oct 25, 2018

U.S. Holiday shoppers are set to spend an average of $1,007.24 this year, a 4.1 percent increase from last year's $967.13 according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics' annual survey. 

According to the survey, consumers will divide most of their holiday shopping between gifts at $637.67; related holiday items like food, decorations, flowers and greeting cards at $215.04; and holiday season deal and sale purchases at $154.53.

“Confidence is near an all-time high, unemployment is the lowest we’ve seen in decades and take-home wages are up," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "All of that is reflected in consumers’ buying plans. Retailers expect strong demand this year, and are prepared with a wide array of merchandise while offering strong deals and promotions during the busiest and most competitive shopping season of the year.”

According to Shay, many retailers imported massive amounts of merchandise to beat Chinese tariffs, which were applied to a wide range of consumer goods last month. 

This survey follows the release of the organization's annual holiday spending forecast, which predicts overall spending rather than per-consumer spending. In this report, the NRF predicted that holiday retail sales in November and December will increase between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent from last year, making for a total of between $717.45 billion and $720.89 billion.