Statistics for 2024 Holiday Shopping Season (Latest Data)
Do you know? The total yearly retail sales in the United States is around $7.2 trillion, and a large portion of it is generated during the holiday season. In 2023, holiday spending reached over $964.4 billion, continuing a trend of rising holiday expenditures.
9 out of 10 Americans are eager to celebrate Christmas with their friends and family. They also plan to use Generative AI to find the best deals for their favorite products.
In this blog, we will check the latest holiday shopping statistics and provide insights into different shopping trends and customer behaviors during the holiday season.
Top Holiday Shopping Statistics in 2024
- Holiday Spending in 2024 is estimated to be $1,012 billion, a 4.9% increase from 2023.
- The average US consumer spends about $875 on holiday shopping.
- Americans spend around $222.1 billion online during their holiday shopping.
- Over 200 million Americans shop during the Thanksgiving weekend.
- Shoppers spend approximately $29.3 billion on gift cards during the holidays.
- 6 out of 10 US shoppers chose to make last-minute purchases in-store.
- More than 59% of Americans make impulsive holiday buying.
How much will Americans spend on holiday shopping in 2024?
Americans spent over $964.4 billion during the holiday shopping season in 2023, which was a 3.8% increase from the previous year. It is estimated that Holiday spending in 2024 will hit the $1 trillion mark in 2024.
Currently, the holiday retail sales are approximately 13.43% of the total US retail sales of $7.2 trillion.
Here is the table to show the total holiday spending in the United States over the years:
| Years | Total Holiday Sales |
| 2024* | $1,012 billion |
| 2023 | $964.4 billion |
| 2022 | $929.5 billion |
| 2021 | $889.3 billion |
| 2020 | $783.4 billion |
| 2019 | $716.7 billion |
| 2018 | $691.8 billion |
| 2017 | $678.1 billion |
| 2016 | $646.7 billion |
| 2015 | $628.1 billion |
| 2014 | $611.2 billion |
| 2013 | $583.3 billion |
| 2012 | $567.6 billion |
| 2011 | $553.3 billion |
Americans spent an average of around 5.8 weeks shopping during the holiday season in 2023.
The holiday shopping duration has decreased compared to previous years. Consumers spent an average of 6.4 weeks doing holiday shopping in 2021. So people are now spending more in less time, this is largely due to the increased adoption of online shopping, especially after the pandemic.
The table below showcases the average shopping duration of Americans during the holiday season:
| Year | Average shopping period in weeks |
| 2023 | 5.8 weeks |
| 2022 | 5.8 weeks |
| 2021 | 6.4 weeks |
| 2020 | 5.9 weeks |
| 2019 | 7.4 weeks |
| 2018 | 7.1 weeks |
Holidays that Americans are most looking forward to
9 out of 10 US consumers are looking forward to celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving.
They are followed by Mother's Day, Easter, and the 4th of July, with around 70% of consumers planning to celebrate them.
Cinco de Mayo and Hanukkah are the least favorite holidays among consumers.
The table below shows the popularity of holidays among US shoppers:
| Holidays | % of Americans eager to celebrate it |
| Valentine's Day | 61% |
| St Patrick's Day | 32% |
| Easter | 69% |
| Cinco de Mayo | 19% |
| Mother's Day | 74% |
| Memorial Day | 47% |
| Father's Day | 63% |
| 4th of July | 68% |
| Labor Day | 42% |
| Halloween | 61% |
| Thanksgiving | 89% |
| Hanukkah | 5% |
| Christmas | 92% |
| New Year's Eve | 64% |
Holidays ranked by spending
Christmas is the biggest sale of the year in the US with total spending reaching $813.6 billion in 2023, followed by Mother's Day and Easter with $33.5 billion and $24 billion, respectively.
Here is the table that ranks holidays by spending:
| Holiday | Total Spending |
| Christmas | $813.6 billion |
| Mother's Day | $33.5 billion |
| Easter | $24 billion |
| Father's Day | $22.4 billion |
| Valentine's Day | $14.2 billion |
| Cyber Monday | $12.4 billion |
| Halloween | $12.2 billion |
| Black Friday | $9.8 billion |
| 4th of July | $9.5 billion |
| St Patrick's Day | $7.2 billion |
| Thanksgiving | $5.6 billion |
Cyber Week became consumers’ favorite time, contributing $38 billion to the total 2023 holiday season sales. Cyber Week consists of big sales, including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday was the top contributor with $12.4 billion, followed by Black Friday with $9.8 billion.
Average amount spent during the holiday season
An average US consumer spends around $866 during holiday shopping on gifts, decorations, food, and other key seasonal items, which is roughly their 1 week's salary.
Let's check the average holiday spending of Americans over the years:
| Year | Average Holiday Spending of Americans |
| 2023 | $875 |
| 2022 | $833 |
| 2021 | 879 |
| 2020 | $880 |
| 2019 | $886 |
| 2018 | $853 |
Gen Z US consumers will increase their holiday spending by 15% from the previous year, while Millennials and Gen X will increase theirs by 14% and 12%, respectively.
Female US shoppers will spend 11% more this year on holiday shopping compared to men.
How much does an average consumer spend on gifts during the holiday season?
Over 70% of an average US consumer's holiday budget is spent to buy gifts. Out of the total of $875, Americans spent around $620 on gifts and $255 on decorations, food, and candy in 2023. This marks a 5.8% rise from the average consumer's expenditure on gifts from 2022.
This is the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic that the average holiday spending of US shoppers grew positive.
The table below shows the average holiday gift expenditure of Americans:
| Year | Holiday Gift Expenditures | Change from Previous Year (%) |
| 2023 | $620 | +5.80% |
| 2022 | $586 | -9.57% |
| 2021 | $648 | -0.31% |
| 2020 | $650 | -1.37% |
| 2019 | $659 | +3.29% |
| 2018 | $638 | +4.93% |
| 2017 | $608 | +3.23% |
| 2016 | $589 | -2.64% |
| 2015 | $605 | +1.68% |
| 2014 | $595 | +6.6% |
What percentage of holiday shopping do consumers complete online?
1 out of 10 Americans did their holiday shopping from eCommerce platforms only, spending a total of $222.1 billion in 2023. Another 3 out of 10 US consumers made most of their holiday purchases online and the rest in offline stores.
Upon calculation, we can conclude that 77% of US consumers made at least half of their holiday shopping online.
8 out of 10 Americans preferred Amazon for their holiday purchases, while 58% of buyers chose Walmart. Target is in the third spot with 42% of consumers purchasing their holiday gifts from there.
Contribution to the online holiday season sales by categories
Electronics generated $50.8 billion in online sales with a year-on-year growth of 5.4%, maintaining its position as the top choice among online shoppers. Furniture was the second favorite category contributing $27.3 billion in revenue.
Apparel saw the least year-on-year growth of 1.7% in online holiday sales among all categories.
Here are the top-selling categories in the online holiday season sales:
| Category | Revenue (in Billions) | YoY Growth (%) |
| Electronics | $50.80 | 5.40% |
| Furniture | $27.30 | 7.50% |
| Grocery | $19.10 | 12.40% |
| Apparel | $41.50 | 1.70% |
| Toys | $7.70 | 4.10% |
| Sporting Goods | $7.10 | 2.50% |
Share of Holiday shopping by device type
7 out of 10 consumers in the US used their smartphones for holiday shopping, followed by desktops and laptops, with 62%, and tablets, with 27%.
Smartphones accounted for 51.1% of the revenue of online holiday shopping, which is $113.5 billion. Desktops and other tablets generated $108.6 billion in revenue.
Let's check the revenue share of online holiday sales by device type:
| Device Type | Total Online Revenue | Revenue Share by % |
| Smartphones | $113.5 billion | 51.1% |
| Desktops and others | $108.6 billion | 48.9% |
What percentage of holiday shopping do consumers complete offline?
Around 6% of US shoppers preferred to do their holiday shopping offline only. Another 17% did most of their holiday shopping in-store and the rest online.
There are approximately 37% of Americans who prefer to do their holiday shopping both online and offline.
Over 200.4 million US consumers made their holiday shopping during the Thanksgiving Weekend in 2023. Black Friday attracted 90.6 million online buyers and 76.2 million offline buyers, retaining its top spot for holiday purchases in the US.
The table below shows the footfall of shoppers during the Thanksgiving weekend over the years:
| Year | Total footfall during the Thanksgiving Weekend |
| 2017 | 174.6 million |
| 2018 | 165.8 million |
| 2019 | 189.6 million |
| 2020 | 186.4 million |
| 2021 | 179.8 million |
| 2022 | 196.7 million |
| 2023 | 200.4 million |
Holiday shopping consumer behavior
50% of holiday shoppers started browsing and buying by October or earlier, with the remaining 40% beginning in November. 10% of US consumers wait till December and January to make their holiday purchases.
6 out of 10 Americans made their holiday purchases early to spread out their gift-shopping budget. Whereas, 46% of buyers did their shopping early to avoid the stress of last-minute shopping.
Around half of the US holiday shoppers started their purchases early to avoid the crowd and another 41% of them did the same to grab the best deals.
Let's check the top reasons why consumers start their holiday shopping before November:
| Reasons for Early Holiday Shopping | % of Shoppers |
| To spread out their gift-shopping budget | 60% |
| To avoid last-minute purchase stress | 46% |
| To avoid crowd | 45% |
| To grab the best deals | 41% |
| To enjoy more time with close ones | 31% |
| To avoid missing out on specific products | 30% |
59% of shoppers in the US made impulsive holiday buying, spending $280 on average per impulse purchase. Gen Z buyers lead in making the most impulse purchases due to various deals and sales.
6 out of 10 Americans had gift cards on their wishlist during the holiday season. Another 49% of shoppers desire clothing and accessories as gifts during the same period.
Personal care and beauty items saw a rise of 5% than the previous year, with 25% of US shoppers prefer them as gifts during the holiday season.
Let's check the most wished-for holiday gift categories by Americans:
| Product Category | % of People want them as a gift |
| Gift Cards | 55% |
| Clothing/Accessories | 49% |
| Book and other media | 28% |
| Personal care and beauty items | 25% |
| Electronics | 23% |
| Home Decor | 23% |
| Jewelry | 22% |
| Sporting goods | 17% |
| Home improvements | 16% |
| Other | 7% |
Importance of discounts during the holiday season
8 out of 10 US consumers look for deals during the holiday season to avoid price increases.
Reports suggest over 63% of consumers expect deals from brands before the holiday season starts to plan their purchases.
Statistics show that 50% of consumers are more likely to visit a store if they receive a coupon.
To complement the consumers' needs, retailers offered double-digit discounts ranging from 10% to 30% on various categories, including electronics, computers, toys, apparel, etc. Retailers provided the highest discounts during Cyber Week, resulting in record-breaking spending.
The top influences for holiday purchase decisions
Price is the top factor for holiday purchases that influences 65% of US shoppers. Product quality and convenience are one of the important factors for about half of Americans during their holiday shopping.
Only around 15% of consumers consider sustainability and trendiness important while purchasing. Other factors influencing US buyers’ holiday season purchases include promotions (34%), customer reviews (33%), brand reputation (21%), and family recommendations (19%).
The table below shows the key factors influencing holiday purchase decisions:
| Influential Factors | % of Americans |
| Price | 65% |
| Product Quality | 56% |
| Convenience | 41% |
| Availability of discounts/promotions | 34% |
| Customer reviews/ratings | 33% |
| Brand Reputation | 21% |
| Recommendations from family and friends | 19% |
| Style/trendiness | 14% |
| Sustainability/eco-friendliness | 13% |
8 out of 10 Gen Z and millennials in the US consider customer rating as the most important factor while making holiday purchases. Over 80% of Gen X and Boomers prioritize product price over customer ratings.
83% of shoppers in the United States also consider checking customer reviews and ratings if they are spending more than $1000 on holiday gifts. Whereas, only 48% of holiday shoppers in the country read customer reviews before purchasing gifts under $250.
What factors are affecting consumers this shopping season by gender?
65% of female and 55% of male shoppers in the US are influenced primarily by price when making holiday purchases. About half of both male and female buyers consider free return options and delivery speed important while shopping.
Let's check some of the major factors that affect consumers' holiday buying decisions in the US:
| Factors | Male | Female |
| Price | 55% | 65% |
| Free Return Option | 41% | 52% |
| Convenience | 43% | 51% |
| Delivery Speed | 42% | 47% |
Which social media platform influences consumers the most during holiday shopping?
5 out of 10 Americans were influenced by Facebook in their holiday purchase decisions. Following closely, YouTube and Instagram are in second and third spot, influencing 46% and 45% of US shoppers, respectively, during holiday shopping.
Twitter (X) has a lower impact on buyers, with only 14% being influenced by it during holiday seasons. There are 17% of buyers who don't get influenced by social media platforms for their purchasing decisions.
The table below shows which social media platform influences US buyers the most in their holiday shopping:
| Social Media Platforms | Share of Buyers |
| 52% | |
| YouTube | 46% |
| 45% | |
| TikTok | 38% |
| 27% | |
| Snapchat | 17% |
| X/Twitter | 14% |
| Others | 5% |
| None | 17% |
7 out of 10 Gen Z consumers in the U.S. get holiday gift ideas from social media. About 65% of millennials and 62% of Gen X shoppers do the same. Only 31% of boomers use social media for holiday gift ideas.
What factors are affecting retailers this holiday shopping season?
Here are some of the important factors that affect retailers during the holiday shopping season:
- Consumer Spending Trends: Online sales surged with significant growth in e-commerce spending, while in-store foot traffic remained stable without substantial increase. Smartphones played a pivotal role, accounting for a significant portion of e-commerce sales and highlighting the importance of mobile-friendly websites and apps.
- Supply Chain Challenges and Inventory Management: Retailers faced challenges with delayed shipments due to port congestion, labor shortages, and shipping delays. This impacted their inventory and delivery times. To solve these issues, they implemented data-driven inventory strategies using predictive analytics to optimize stock levels, reduce overstock, and enhance order fulfillment.
- Pricing Strategies and Discounts: Retailers used dynamic pricing algorithms for adjusting prices based on product demand, inventory, and competitors, using real-time data. Various data-driven insights also help retailers by informing strategic promotions and flash sales timing to optimize revenue.
- Customer Experience and Personalization: Many retailers use AI-driven recommendation engines to personalize their product suggestions, enhancing cross-selling and upselling. They also used data segmentation to target marketing efforts, sending personalized emails and ads aligned with customer behavior and preferences.
- Returns and Post-Holiday Sales: Retailers extended the return windows post-holidays, responding to consumer demand for flexibility. They also introduced clearance sales by analyzing data on unsold inventory and offered discounts to clear remaining stock.
Usage of Generative AI during the holiday seasons
16% of Americans want to use Generative AI to find the best deals during their holiday shopping. Another 14% of shoppers intend to use AI to locate specific products online.
Reports also suggest that around 11% of US buyers use AI to receive recommendations from their favorite brands.
The table below shows reasons for using Generative AI during the holiday season:
| Reasons to use Generative AI | % of Americans planning to use |
| Finding the best deals | 16% |
| Finding specific products online | 14% |
| Receiving brand recommendations | 11% |
| Finding a similar brand/product | 10% |
Last-minute holiday shopping statistics
Last minute shopping during the holiday season is more popular among male shoppers than females in the US. According to various reports, older consumers in the country like to do last minute holiday shopping compared to younger shoppers. Let’s check some of the key statistics of last-minute shopping during the holiday season:
Men engage more in last-minute holiday shopping than women
21% of American men prefer last-minute holiday shopping; only 11% of women buyers delay their holiday purchases until December. Around half of these buyers intend to purchase in bulk for their holiday shopping in December.
6 out of 10 Americans prefer offline purchases during their last-minute holiday gift shopping
Around 58% of US shoppers prefer to make their last-minute purchases in-store, while only 21% opt for online shopping.
Another 39% of buyers opt for physical gift cards, while 24% prefer BOPIS to avoid the rush. There are 15% of shoppers who tend to purchase supplies and make their DIY gifts.
Older Americans are more likely to do last-minute shopping than younger shoppers
Half of Gen X consumers in the US prefer making last-minute holiday purchases, compared to 40% of Boomers. 31% of these shoppers make last-minute purchases due to procrastination, while 23% shop when the holidays approach.
Buy Now, Pay Later usage during Holiday Shopping
The buy now, pay later payment method is getting more popular among Americans during the holiday season. Millennials use this payment method the most to do their holiday shopping. Here are some of the important Buy Now, Pay Later usage statistics during holiday shopping:
Buy Now Pay Later sales generated $16.6 billion during the holiday season
Americans spent over $16.6 billion using the Buy Now, Pay Later services for their holiday shopping in 2023. This is a 14% year-on-year increase from the previous and is the highest revenue ever. Shoppers spent around $75 billion in 2023 by using different BNPL platforms.
November contributed around $9.2 billion in total BNPL sales ever during the holiday season. Consumers spent around $2.7 billion during Cyber Week by purchasing products with the BNPL option. Cyber Monday alone generated $950 million in sales, the highest single-day sale using BNPL services.
1/3rd of US millennials use the Buy Now, Pay Later option to purchase gifts
About 33% of millennials in the US use Buy Now, Pay Later services for their holiday gift purchases, while 25% of Gen Z buyers do the same.
Gen X Americans are second to Gen Z shoppers, with 24% using BNPL platforms for holiday gifts. Only 5% of Boomers use the same payment method for their holiday shopping.
The table below showcases the usage of BNPL services by generations:
| US Shoppers by Generations | % of Shoppers using BNPL Services |
| Gen Z | 25% |
| Millennials | 33% |
| Gen X | 24% |
| Boomers | 5% |
Buy Now, Pay Later usage during Holiday Seasons by Country
5 out of 10 shoppers in Finland make holiday shopping using Buy Now Pay Later services. Following closely, Spain holds the second spot as 54% of its consumers use BNPL platforms, while Portugal comes third with 52%.
Italy stands last on the list with only 35% of its buyers prefer using BNPL services during the holiday seasons.
Here is the table to showcase the usage of the BNPL services during holiday seasons by countries:
| Country | Share of the population using BNPL |
| Finland | 55% |
| Spain | 54% |
| Portugal | 52% |
| Australia | 52% |
| Ireland | 50% |
| Netherlands | 49% |
| Sweden | 48% |
| UK | 47% |
| New Zealand | 46% |
| Austria | 44% |
| Poland | 44% |
| Norway | 42% |
| France | 42% |
| Belgium | 41% |
| Germany | 41% |
| United States | 41% |
| Italy | 35% |
Americans are using BOPIS less as they prefer purchasing from the store
Retailers saw only 18.4% of their sales were made using the Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) option during the holiday season in 2023. On December 23rd, BOPIS orders peaked at 37% of all orders.
Source: Adobe Analytics, Statista
Gift card spending during the Holiday Season
Americans spend around an average of $29.3 billion on purchasing gift cards during their holiday shopping. Consumers purchase an average of 3.4 gift cards and put an average of $49.43 in their gift cards.
What types of gift cards do Americans plan to purchase during the holiday season?
3 out of 10 US shoppers prefer purchasing restaurant gift cards during the holiday season, while 26% of buyers opt for bank-issued gift cards and department store gift cards.
The report also suggests, only 11% of US consumers tend to purchase bookstore gift cards.
Let's check the top gift card preferences of US shoppers during the holiday season:
| Gift Card | % of Americans purchasing Gift Cards |
| Restaurants | 30% |
| Bank-issued | 26% |
| Department Store | 26% |
| Coffee Shop | 21% |
| Entertainment | 17% |
| Online Merchant | 15% |
| Grocery store/gasoline | 15% |
| Electronics Store | 13% |
| Food Delivery Service | 12% |
| Book Store | 11% |
Average gift card spend in the US during the holiday season by generation
Millennials in the US spend an average of $456 on gift cards during the holiday season, a $113 increase from the previous year. Following closely, Gen X consumers are in the second spot with an average gift card spending of $341.
Gen Z shoppers are in the last spot as they spend around $211 during their holiday season shopping.
The table below showcases the average gift card spending during the holiday season by different generations:
| Generations | % of shoppers spending on gift cards |
| Gen Z | $211 |
| Millennials | $456 |
| Gen X | $341 |
| Boomers | $238 |
Source: Statistics, NRF
Credit Card Spending during the Holiday Season
7 out of 10 Americans prefer to use credit cards during their holiday gift shopping, spending an average of $680.
2/3rd of the shoppers tend to use cash for their holiday shopping, followed by 28% of them using money from their savings.
Here is the table to showcase the usage of different payment modes during the holiday season:
| Payment Method | % of shoppers |
| Credit Cards | 74% |
| Cash | 66% |
| Use money from savings | 28% |
| Buy Now Pay Later | 15% |
| Cash advance app | 8% |
| Personal Loan | 6% |
| Payday Loan | 4% |
| Other | 3% |
Conclusion
Holiday season sales remain the top contributor to the overall retail sales of the United States. The total holiday season sales are expected to cross the $1 trillion mark in 2024. With over 90% of Americans planning to celebrate Christmas this year, retailers should try new marketing strategies to attract more shoppers and increase their revenue.
Looking forward, the use of Generative AI will increase in the coming holiday seasons as it helps buyers find the best deals on their favorite products. However, the rise in Buy Now, Pay Later services raises concerns about increased consumer debt.
