Retail trends for this holiday season include shopping earlier, looking for deals


How do your Christmas season shopping experiences compare with other consumers?

Here’s what the National Retail Federation says, based on its recent national survey of the 8,103 adult consumers, with added commentary from local retail officials:

How much will consumers spend on holiday shopping?

On average, they will spend $875. Of that, about $620 will be spent on gifts. Consumers also are budgeting $255 for seasonal items like decorations, cards, candy or food.

Gift cards remain the most popular gift for the Christmas season, with 55% of holiday shoppers saying they would like to receive them this year.

Do many shoppers start their shopping early?

Yes. About 43% of holiday shoppers say they generally start their holiday shopping before November.

The top reasons people begin their shopping ahead of time are to spread out their gift-shopping budget (60%), to avoid the stress of last-minute shopping (46%), to avoid crowds (45%), to take advantage of sale prices and promotions (41%), to have more time later in the season to celebrate and enjoy the season with their family and friends (31%), and to avoid missing out on specific items (30%).

But, regardless of how early consumers start shopping, 62% expect they won’t finish until December.

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How much are shoppers focusing on finding a good deal?

The National Retail Federation survey found that 62% said sales are more important to them this year than they were last year; 46% are shopping for sales more often; and 34% are doing more comparative shopping online.

“They want to feel that they’re finding value this season and making every dollar count,” said Katherine Cullen, the National Retail Federation’s vice president for industry and consumer insights.

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Is ‘Black Friday’ still a big deal?

It’s big, but not as big as it used to be.

Black Friday ― the day after Thanksgiving ― remains an important day in the retail sales calendar, as is the following Saturday (“Small Business Saturday,” with a focus on mom-and-pop retailers) and the following Monday (“Cyber Monday,” a big day for online retail sales).

What are the most popular types of gifts people want?

Gift cards remain the most popular gift, with 55% of holiday shoppers saying they would like to receive them this year. That’s followed by clothing or accessories (49%); books, video games or other media (28%); personal-care or beauty items (25%); electronics (23%); home decor (23%); jewelry (22%); sporting goods (17%); and home-improvement items (16%). 

Kyle Cooper, general manager of The Avenue Viera, said Lululemon, which operates this store at The Avenue, will be benefit from the growing trend of athletic wear shifting from being worn exclusively in the gym to everyday wear.

Kyle Cooper, general manager of The Avenue Viera, said retailers like Sephora and Lululemon will be benefiting from two growing trends.

There is a surge of interest in makeup and skin care on apps like TikTok and Instagram, so “we expect beauty products to be a trending holiday gift in 2023,” Cooper said. Also, “athletic wear shifted from being worn exclusively in the gym to everyday wear, so we believe the ‘athleisure’ trend will bring lots of people” into stories specializing in those products.

MaryAnn Alukonis, assistant general manager at Merritt Square Mall on Merritt Island, said consumers remain “very ‘comfort-driven’ since COVID,” with “a lot of interest in personal-care products and small electronics.”

How many people will be shopping during Thanksgiving weekend?

A separate National Retail Federation of 8,424 adult consumers estimates that 182 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year. This figure is 15.7 million more people than last year, and is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.

According to the survey, 74% of holiday shoppers plan to shop during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend this year. This is up from 69% pre-pandemic, in 2019.

How many extra jobs does the retail industry create during the holiday season?

NRF expects retailers will hire between 345,000 and 450,000 seasonal workers. This is in line with 391,000 seasonal hires in 2022. Some of this hiring was pulled into October to support retailers’ holiday buying events in October.

Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting 52 million jobs.

How have retailers dealt with potential supply-chain issues?

Retailers have been bringing products in earlier during their peak shipping season to ensure products are ready in-store and online for the holiday shopping season.

They also have invested in enhanced technology that allows customers to see what products are currently in stock, if items are available at alternate locations, and how long items are expected to take for delivery.

How big an issue is returns on the holiday season?

Last year, retailers said returns represented about 17.9% of their holiday sales. The vast majority of returns occur in January, after the winter holidays.

In addition to returning items for a refund, many consumers use holiday returns as an opportunity to make an additional purchase or shop retailers’ post-holiday sales.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at [email protected], on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

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